The title is because when I first created this page in particular, I dictated it through Siri. Siri has a problem understanding now and then. When I dictated COX, she heard it as cocks. Anyway, we have subscribed to Cox, not cicks! LOL
Since we started this webpage we have moved. We now have COX basic for an additional seven dollars per month. Not a bad deal. Initially, they installed the DVR box. This precluded the use of our TiVo. I spoke with them and got our straight cable for the same price. The link above is for us. The rest of this webpage still applies for you. Live long and prosper!
These pages are intended to help you reduce your monthly television viewing from (probably) over $100 per month to about ten dollars per month. Seriously! I am not selling anything, nor am I asking for you to give me money. This page is mainly for use as a portal for my wife and me, but you can use it too.Send all comments and feedback to RobtAndr@gmail.com
We are using mostly local broadcasts run through a digital antennae into a TiVo recorder. This represents about 85% of our TV viewing. Total cost on this was under $100. To watch LIVE, there are no additional charges. To record on our TiVo, it requires a subscription to the TiVo service.
Netflix streaming makes up about 8% of our viewing. This requires an internet connection.
YouTube makes up maybe 3% of our viewing. This requires an internet connection.
And Roku only about 1% of our viewing. This requires an internet connection.
The last 3% is something new. Google ChromeCast allows us to use our iPad or computer to SET UP a video, which then broadcasts to our TV. See the separate article entitled ChromeCast for more information. This also requires an internet connection.
A lot of TV channels focus on specific interests. For example: History, Cooking, Travel, and so forth. These channels are mostly available through paid Dish or Cable TV channels; hoping that after you see their previews, you will sign up for their channel. There is quite a bit of really good programming here. This page features links to stations providing niche programming.
As this project has been going on, we’ve found that a few channels, we watch more than the others. These channels are our Top Picks
Netflix is probably the single best thing that someone without standard Cable or Dish can subscribe to. It’s cheap, and there for you as often as you need it. As far as using your basic $9 “1 movie” subscription as a portal for watching On-Demand movies, it is indispensable. We combine it with a DVR and movies from the Public Library, in addition to the Internet channels.
These links may bring you some sit-com type entertainment, but this page is intended predominantly to bring you sites that offer full-length movie entertainment.
– Full episodes of thousands of shows, plus a really great, alphabetical index.
Face it… you could make an entire evening of watching stuff that people post to YouTube! There is much more than YouTube though. This page will bring that type of “amateur” publishing to your screen.
There are many sites that defy categorization. They are damn good sites, but not yet in a category. I present those sites here.
With the addition of TiVo Desktop (about $80) to our Entertainment System we can view nearly any YouTube video on our television. With the tens of thousands of movies published on the web, this gives us a lot of programming choices. Here is a small collection of YouTube Channels that have a significant number of movies on their YouTube Channel.
The process is (1) Create a directory on your computer (2) Save the YouTube video to that directory (3) Download and watch the movie from your TiVo TV.
With a digital antennae and this FREE reception (in Phoenix) we get 57 channels. Out of this nearly half of them are Spanish channels, but that still leaves 30 channels of local television programming for absolutely nothing per month.
We had a problem with the TV.
The repair guy said “Why don’t you have Cable TV?”
We said “Because we don’t watch that much TV.”
He said “Well, why don’t you have rabbit ears or an antennae?”
We said “Because when the FCC eliminated analog, that wasn’t an option.”
He said (basically) “What are you, frickin’ ignorant or something?”
… well, probably not THAT strongly, but here is the bottom line:
This antenna is pointed toward the towers located on South Mountain
Here is a link that will fully explain what DIGITAL TELEVISION really is.
The bottom line is YES, you can still use an antennae to receive FREE television IF you have a digital converter box (knew that) OR a TV that automatically converts the digital signals (didn’t know that). Almost any TV manufactured after 2005 will be capable of converting the signal without a box.
Additionally, we bought a signal amplifier that it turns out we did not need, and a mounting kit, which also we did not need. The antenna comes with a 2.5 inch mounting clamp and will bolt around any post, pole, etc. The higher you can get it the better. With that in mind, since I had already purchased the post, I jerry-rigged an add-on mast to give me an extra 24 inches of elevation. The amplifier, you don’t need at all if you are using less than 50 foot of coax.
With this FREE reception we get 57 channels. Out of this nearly half of them are Spanish channels, but that still leaves 30 channels of local television programming for absolutely nothing per month.
I’ve linked to web sites that you customize for use as your own TV Guide. ONE :: TWO ::THREE :: FOUR :: FIVE
– Five is actually not very helpful as far as program listings go, but does have some good info.
At this point, I am thinking about eliminating my subscriptions to NetFlix ($12 per month) and Hulu Plus ($9 per month), but I’ll probably hold off to make sure this works as well as I am hoping.
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