How to watch local tv channels without when cutting down.

fancicoffee13

fancicoffee13

Senior Member
Location
Texas
I am having to cut back on my expenses so I went from Hulu+live tv to the Basic plan for $8.65. I still don't mind too much. It's just there are shows I love to watch on local channels. I don't like the antenna thing. I am just wanding if there is another way. There is an app that is Free TV, but not the shows I like to watch every week. Got any idea?
 

My Dish went up again. I'm looking for other ways to watch at a lower cost also. We don't watch that much TV ourselves & when we kept track of the channels, there were just a few that we actually watch on a regular basis. Those are the channel I would miss if we left Dish & couldn't find elsewhere.

We have had a Fire Stick for a long time & see some good shows on it. We have Amazon Prime, but you don't have to have that in order to use the Fire Stick. You just need to have an account with Amazon to use it.
 
Lilac said:
My Dish went up again. I'm looking for other ways to watch at a lower cost also. We don't watch that much TV ourselves & when we kept track of the channels, there were just a few that we actually watch on a regular basis. Those are the channel I would miss if we left Dish & couldn't find elsewhere.

We have had a Fire Stick for a long time & see some good shows on it. We have Amazon Prime, but you don't have to have that in order to use the Fire Stick. You just need to have an account with Amazon to use it.
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But does Amazon Prime enable you to watch local channels? Is it high like 70 0r 80 dollars?
 

We have not had any kind of cable or satellite TV for several years now. We ordered a small antenna from amazon, and it picks up all of the local channels, which we mainly only use when there is a storm and we want to see the local radar and weather reporting in case of tornadoes.
We do have amazon prime , and that includes Prime reading and Prime video and also music, as well as the free shipping benefits.
Prime also has a low income option for anyone with medicaid or EBT, or similar; which cuts the monthly price in half, but you still have all of the benefits of prime.

Also, Walmart+ has free Paramount+ as one of its benefits, and walmart+ also has a low income option, which is about $40 a year, and you get free grocery delivery (if you are in a delivery area), plus discounts on gas, free shipping with online orders, and several other benefits.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
We have not had any kind of cable or satellite TV for several years now. We ordered a small antenna from amazon, and it picks up all of the local channels, which we mainly only use when there is a storm and we want to see the local radar and weather reporting in case of tornadoes.
We do have amazon prime , and that includes Prime reading and Prime video and also music, as well as the free shipping benefits.
Prime also has a low income option for anyone with medicaid or EBT, or similar; which cuts the monthly price in half, but you still have all of the benefits of prime.

Also, Walmart+ has free Paramount+ as one of its benefits, and walmart+ also has a low income option, which is about $40 a year, and you get free grocery delivery (if you are in a delivery area), plus discounts on gas, free shipping with online orders, and several other benefits.
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Ok, that gives me a lot of hope. Thank you so much. I will look into an antenna and Prime.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
But does Amazon Prime enable you to watch local channels? Is it high like 70 0r 80 dollars?
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Can't get local channels on it. I wish we could. Amazon Prime, if I remember correctly was $120 for the entire year. We order off of Amazon & with it get free shipping. I've been thinking about not renewing it because I don't think we are ordering enough now to justify it since you have to have around a $25 order to get the free shipping.

Check this link out about having an Amazon account, but not having to have Prime to use the Fire Stick.

Do You Need A Subscription For An Amazon FireStick? Solved! - The Gadget Buyer | Tech Advice
 
I've had indoor Antennas for 5 or 6 years. They raised the prices on me and I rebelled and discontinued them. They included multiple channels I never used and I figured "why pay for ones I never use?" I have Amazon which I got not too long after that plus several ones which we all use - there are 4 living here in this house. I grew to feel those all-in-one services were a giant rip-off.
 
I used one of these for a long time; one for each TV.
They're cheap (like around $30) and they work really well. I stuck the one for the livingroom TV on my front window, and tacked the one for young Paxton's TV on a wall.

wall antenna.jpg

I didn't need them after I bought Roku TVs.
 
I have something similar to yours Murrmurr. We use it in bad weather when Dish goes down for the local channels. I still wouldn't mind having one outside of the house for better reception.

I'm all for paying less for TV since we don't watch over 50% of what we get through Dish.
 
I have YouTube tv and they allow you to share it with another household. It costs 75/month but we each pay half. You can each watch what you want at the same time and up to 4 TVs can be used between the houses.
 
I use an indoor antenna but it has become iffy as broadcasting is playing "reindeer games" right now which means the old ATSC 1.0 signals are at reduced power. ATSC 3.0 requires a new TV or separate tuning box and none of that is cheap. The new signals also need more power and sometimes require an active Internet connection. It's a mess. Your "mileage" will vary.

Right now most leaves have fallen so the trees don't block signals as much, but from May to September I get far fewer channels, some only marginally.

I've had Roku boxes and currently a Roku TV. I pay for Amazon Prime but nothing else besides Internet service. This also gets me tons of stuff for free (with ads) from Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and on and on. Some local TV offers Roku "channels" but most of that is just news snippets, not their live broadcasting.
 
Local channels are a tricky thing because of their network affiliations . Unless you pay for a streaming TV service such as YouTube TV or Sling then OTA is your best option. Once in awhile an app will show up on Roku which does offer local programming in major cities but those apps quickly go away because the legality of such apps are challenged by the major networks. One lasted for about three years and worked pretty well but eventually went away because the owner of that service did not want to fight the networks in court.
 
Murrmurr said:
I used one of these for a long time; one for each TV.
They're cheap (like around $30) and they work really well. I stuck the one for the livingroom TV on my front window, and tacked the one for young Paxton's TV on a wall.

View attachment 313425

I didn't need them after I bought Roku TVs.
Click to expand...
Well, I got an antenna, so when I need it, (day after tomorrow) I will use it. Thanks for the help.
 
Lilac said:
Can't get local channels on it. I wish we could. Amazon Prime, if I remember correctly was $120 for the entire year. We order off of Amazon & with it get free shipping. I've been thinking about not renewing it because I don't think we are ordering enough now to justify it since you have to have around a $25 order to get the free shipping.

Check this link out about having an Amazon account, but not having to have Prime to use the Fire Stick.

Do You Need A Subscription For An Amazon FireStick? Solved! - The Gadget Buyer | Tech Advice
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I have Prime and don't have to spend 25.00 for free shipping. I have bought things for 7.00 and still got the free shipping .
 
Ruthanne said:
I have Prime and don't have to spend 25.00 for free shipping. I have bought things for 7.00 and still got the free shipping .
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I know some sellers will give you free shipping which I look for. Usually the smaller business that I like to support. But anything for Amazon prime purchases needs to be $25 minimum. I don't like they changed that rule. I put things on the wish list that I want but don't need immediately to get to the limit & then buy.
 
Lilac said:
I know some sellers will give you free shipping which I look for. Usually the smaller business that I like to support. But anything for Amazon prime purchases needs to be $25 minimum. I don't like they changed that rule. I put things on the wish list that I want but don't need immediately to get to the limit & then buy.
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That's strange because I buy lots of stuff under 25.00 on Amazon Prime and always get free shipping.
 
I just looked, and a recent order for $13 had no shipping cost added. Maybe there are categories. Perhaps some 3rd party items are "free with Prime" but only with a $25 minimum order?
 
I stand corrected on shipping. A few years ago, it had changed to a minimum, but I didn't keep up on it. Maybe it was changed back by complaints?
 
I have an antenna hooked up to a Tivo DVR. It records shows so I can watch them when I have time. Often I will record an entire run of Masterpiece Mystery and then watch it over a period of several days.

At times, the Tivo will allow me to skip some commercials on some prime time shows. Press one button and you are two seconds away from the show starting up again after the commercials. Other times I can FF through the commercials.

There are other DVRs available. When my Tivo gives up the ghost, I might try a Tablo.
 
Lilac said:
I have something similar to yours Murrmurr. We use it in bad weather when Dish goes down for the local channels. I still wouldn't mind having one outside of the house for better reception.

I'm all for paying less for TV since we don't watch over 50% of what we get through Dish.
Click to expand...
So, you get local channels on these antennas. Not just the news, but local channels?
 
Happyflowerlady said:
We have not had any kind of cable or satellite TV for several years now. We ordered a small antenna from amazon, and it picks up all of the local channels, which we mainly only use when there is a storm and we want to see the local radar and weather reporting in case of tornadoes.
We do have amazon prime , and that includes Prime reading and Prime video and also music, as well as the free shipping benefits.
Prime also has a low income option for anyone with medicaid or EBT, or similar; which cuts the monthly price in half, but you still have all of the benefits of prime.

Also, Walmart+ has free Paramount+ as one of its benefits, and walmart+ also has a low income option, which is about $40 a year, and you get free grocery delivery (if you are in a delivery area), plus discounts on gas, free shipping with online orders, and several other benefits.
Click to expand...
How did you get the local channels? Through Amazon or by scanning channels? Because I watch mainly the local channels.
 
We just have a small antenna that we bought from Amazon several years ago. They have a variety of these in all sizes and price ranges, and i think ours was around $30 when we bought it. It could be used either inside or outside and my husband put it up outside.
It picks up all of the local channels for us.

We also have Amazon Prime, so we have regular movies from that, but that is a whole different thing from the free over-the-air local channels we get with the antenna, and only has free and rental movies or TV shows.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
So, you get local channels on these antennas. Not just the news, but local channels?
Click to expand...
Antennas pick up local channels. The closer local TV stations are to your house, the better your reception will be.

We have 3 major TV broadcasting stations here in Sacramento, plus a broadcasting booster tower for PBS and one for NBC.

My antenna picked up the 3 major ones really well. Sometimes I had to move it around just a bit to get PBS clearly.

It helps to know where the towers are.
 

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