Get Free TV With an Antenna

You can get FREE TV with an antenna. And you can get free HDTV with an antenna. Get Free High Definition TV shows and movies with an antenna.

With an antenna, you can get your FREE local station Over-The-AIR (OTA) LIVE TV broadcasts in High Definition (HD). Many local broadcast TV stations transmit their signal in either 720p HD or 1080i HD. Both are High Definition signals and are great to watch on your High Definition TV. You may even notice that the FREE LIVE High Definition TV broadcasts from your antenna look better than some of your cable and satellite TV channels.

Plus, you don’t need a subscription.

Get Free TV With An Antenna

The easiest and cheapest way to watch Live TV as a Cord Cutter is by using an Over-The-Air (OTA) TV antenna. A TV antenna can receive FREE High-Definition digital broadcast signals from your local stations like ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, FOX, PBS, and more. However, with an antenna, you can’t get cable TV channels like HGTV, AMC, A&E, Hallmark, CNN, etc.

If you want to watch cable TV channels, you will need to a Live TV streaming service like Hulu Live TV, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

Read more about how to stream live TV.

There are several websites that can help you find Local Live OTA TV stations are available in your area. Antenna companies will even make antenna recommendations for channels in your area based on the performance of their antennas.

Mohu (Antenna Company) – Find out what is available in your area.
Antennas Direct (Antenna Company) – Transmitter Locator and TV Antenna Selector
Antenna Web.Org – Maximize Your Antenna Reception

Watch Out For Cheap Antennas

Cheap antennas can really give you a disappointing performance.

Cheap antennas often don’t get the range advertised. And some companies even make exaggerated claims or unrealistic statements about the range of their antennas.

A reputable antenna company will not likely advertise a range of over 70 miles (or a 140 mile range from an “epicenter”). Because getting a consistent signal farther than 70 miles in one direction is almost impossible – due to the curvature of the earth. Any antenna claiming to get signals farther than 70 miles is likely an exaggerated claim.

It is hard to know if off-brand antennas will perform as claimed. There isn’t an independent testing company that verifies the claims antennas make.

No one seems to be watching the claims being made about antennas.

Be cautious.

And stick with brand name antennas.

Here are several types of quality brands of indoor and outdoor TV antennas.

• AmazonBasics Indoor Flat TV Antenna 35 Mile Range
• RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna with 70 Mile Range
• Antennas Direct: Outdoor antennas
• Mohu Leaf TV Antenna, Indoor, Amplified, 60 Mile Range

DVR and FREE TV with an Antenna

Get the most out of your TV antenna with an Over-The-Air (OTA) DVR (optional). A OTA DVR box in your home lets you record Live TV from your TV antenna and watch shows later.

The Amazon Fire TV Recast, TiVo, and Tablo are all OTA DVRs for your home designed to be used with TV antennas. Set-up is a snap with any of these OTA DVRs. All you need is an antenna – then connect the antenna to the DVR with a cable.

Why OTA DVR Is Better Than Cloud DVR

The Amazon Fire TV Recast, TiVo, and Tablo all have one thing in common. They all are OTA DVR boxes in your home and use Hard Drives. Overall, OTA DVRs that use Hard Drives are better than the Cloud DVRs. You get Cloud DVRs with Sling TV, Hulu, DIRECTV NOW, YouTube TV, etc. OTA DVRs that use a Hard Drive simply respond faster to remote control button-mashing and have better overall performance than Cloud DVRs.

The Cloud DVRs are pretty good and are always getting better. But, Cloud DVRs all seem to have a few weaknesses.

Here are a few areas where the OTA DVR is better than the Cloud DVR.

Commercial Skipping

Streaming services still control what Cloud DVR TV show and movie recordings you can and cannot fast-forward through. And the range of control you have on your Cloud DVR recordings is dramatic. There are some shows that you can fast-forward at any time. But sometime you can only fast-forward through the TV show or movie, and NOT the commercials. And then there are shows or movies where you can’t fast-forward at all – not the commercials OR the show. Control of fast-forward in the Cloud DVRs is sporadic and inconsistent, and seems to vary depending on the show, movie, or streaming provider (Sling TV, HULU, DIRECTV NOW, YouTube TV, etc.)

TiVo and Tablo OTA Hard Drive DVRs can even skip the commercials for you. No Cloud DVR can skip the commercials of your Cloud DVR recordings.

Cloud DVR Lag

Many cloud DVRs still seem to have a tiny lag between when you press the remote control and the Cloud DVR responds. While this lag has gone down significantly, you may still notice. The lag slows down navigation through your recorded event listings and even while you are watching recorded programs.

Playback Performance

The performance of Cloud DVRs is always improving. But playback from a Cloud DVR can pause or skip while you are watching your TV show or movie, or even worst, the Cloud DVR won’t play the video at all. Smooth video playback performance can be caused by more than the Cloud DVR. Playback performance is dependent on the age of your Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Smart TV streaming device. An older streaming device can greatly impact the performance of the Cloud DVR.

The home WiFi can also affect playback performance. An older WiFi or Router may not have the high speed signal frequencies or bandwidth needed to send the video to the TV.

Video Quality

Performance can also be a problem for video quality and grainy, low resolution video. Video quality issues are very difficult to determine. They can be caused by the Cloud DVR service, the Internet (in general), your internet service, or the wiring and WiFi in your home. And they can be caused by older streaming devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Smart TV).