Poll: Do you tune into OTA programming?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jun 28th 2008 12:00PM
posted Jun 28th 2008 12:00PM
[Image courtesy of HMSTV]
posted Jun 28th 2008 12:00PM
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You're asking about OTA channel use and THAT is the picture you use to go with the story?!
Yes, they used a picture that is sourced from a public access channel's website. What a travesty for Engadget to have used a picture from a station that is most likely a big supporter of OTA broadcasting.
Seriously though, I don't understand the incredulous nature of your comment.
James,
Most likely because it features the evil "SONY" corp....so many casualties along the way at the evil hands of the evil doers that is Sony....
I use it a little. I used to use it a lot, but DirecTV now has HD locals over satellite in my area and they look almost as good as the OTA channels.
I still use it for PBS, for one local station that isn't carried in HD in DirecTV and I use it to record CSI because I think I can see the quality difference when recording that show (but not in any others).
DirectTV's MPEG-4 re-encoded satellite locals take up a lot less space on the PVR than the MPEG-2 OTA locals.
I'd say much the same thing except I still have an older HR10-250 attached with OTA in, so I use that for backup recording of series shows. I find that the DirecTV HD feed to my HR20 sometimes fails, so I still need the backup. Oh, and PBS, too.
I use OTA a little. Either during football season, the PQ seems to be a bit better than cable, or if I'm DVRing two shows at once and there's a third show I want to watch.
I still use OTA because Time Warner still sucks. Sometimes I wish Cable companies didn't exist and everything was just OTA. The quality is much better and you don't have to pay for service that seems to mysteriously increase every year let alone every month.
That's how I get my HD-TV. Actually, I made my own antenna and got a signal booster from Amazon = HD nirvana for under $45. I've seen the HD my cable company sends, and that thing is way over compressed. I'm not paying for that.
I don't use OTA at all. Can't get them. Dish does a good job with my locals anyway.
I've never used OTA.
Not willing to pay DirecTV for HD local broadcasts so I would LOVE to get HD over the air.
Unfortunately we live in a low-lying area with broadcast towers behind a range of hills. I have never been able to pick up ONE station, even in SD.
I used to rely on OTA, then I got cable, now i'm back to OTA for the foreseeable future.
I use mine when my DirecTV signal goes away, so it comes in handy then but otherwise I don't use it
We use OTA when Comcast goes down.
I switched to OTA a few years ago, when I first got a HD tuner. Saving myself $50 a month in basic cable fees is nice. Laughing at the ComCast mailers that I get telling me how much I can save if I switch to them is good for my attitude.
Not spending quite so much of my time searching for thigns to watch is nice. I'm much more likely to give up and godo somethign productive.
The biggest thing I miss is knowing that there will be something on at 3am when I can't sleep. "Paid Programming" is just a reason to hit the channel changer.
I dropped my DirecTV subscription back in January, but haven't gotten around to hooking up an antenna yet. I watch all my TV shows online.
I was thinking of setting up OTA for the picture quality, but I hardly ever watch any of those channels anyway.
I love the buried OTA channels that the providers don't carry... the __-2's, __-3's, etc... that have like 24-7 local news, 24-7 radar/weather, etc. For us, our PBS has 3 or 4 subchannels with different things on so that's cool. The only thing now is the OTA's aren't available to me while I use Uverse, where the OTA's could be run in through the DirecTV receivers.
I refuse to give Comcast money for their crappy quality service and my land lord doesn't want a dish attached to the house so I am OTA all the way.
I only watch a few shows so OTA digital gets me half way there. If I miss it when it airs, I download it on the Xbox or through iTunes or stream it on Hulu or the network's site. If I don't need to see it right away I just wait till Netflix gets the DVD's. Basically I will use any route possible to avoid paying cable and satellite companies for hundreds of channels of crap I could care less about just to see 4 or 5 shows.
With the money I save not having cable or satellite I could even buy the box sets of the shows I care about on DVD and still come out ahead.
AHHH!!! BELL CURVES, EVERYWHERE!!!
It was all I had at first, but I wanted Discovery and ESPN, so I upgraded my Directv. Now, I primarily use it for when Directv goes out or to watch PBS in HD, which isn't carried in my Directv local package. The coolest thing is sports. It works great for picture in picture where I can watch both in HD, especially during football season. Also, during March Madness, my local CBS affiliate multicast all the games over the air, so I can catch the first round on *-1,*-2, and *-3. They are all in SD, but at least I don't have to go to a sports bar.
We use OTA all the time. We have DirecTV, and can get the locals over DirecTV, however the OTA is much much better. In addition, in the Dallas area there are some local weather stations with radar that are a must have.
I use OTA exclusively. I record all the good shows with MythTV so i have more than enough content to satisfy my needs. Then, with the extra money I save I buy extra Home Theater gear, like my newly purchased Samsung BD-P1500, which btw is amazing!
Mitchell
If you don't use OTA + have an HD tv + are CAPABLE of getting channels OTA.. you are seriously missing out. I have Dish and the locals look like garbage compared to my antenna channels.
If you don't have an antenna in your attic, roof or on your set top, I highly recommend getting one of these. They're cheap and so much better than the highly compressed crap that cable or satellite gives you.
We put an antenna in the attic and also have full Cox cable. The OTA stuff is absolutely stunning. Far better then either the Cable or our Moms Satellite.
Much less compression , crisper...the best Ive ever seen on anything.
Unable to receive OTA programming in my area.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx shows that most of US can't get OTA.
I use OTA even though I have cable due to the fact that OTA has a clearer picture. Compression was not an issue before the roll out of all these other HD channels. But I only get 5 of the 11 channels available in my area.
OTA is the way to go even if you have access to a multichannel provider. (I have access to both sat providers, cable and IPTV.) Most of the multichannel providers don't carry all the HD and digital stations. None of them carry all of the subchannels. I don't think any multichannel provider provides the CW affiliate in HD in Austin. That's our best looking station (no subchannels and 1080i). Nope, Blu-Ray/HDM has the best PQ. That is closely followed by C-band and OTA. OTA is free and a no brainer.
Live in big urban city (Manhattan, NY) no possibility of OTA. One of the reasons why Crime Warner sticks it to us on rates/service, we pay more for 1/2 as much (HD) as the outer boroughs that mostly CAN get OTA.
Most of the responses repeat the obvious benefits of having an OTA antenna, for free almost completely uncompressed digital signals, unlike cable or satellite; local HD programming not carried, sub-channel broadcasts and as a backup for lost service.
You may also be able to receive out-of-town channels, carrying blacked out sports programs, or network broadcasts not available locally. As an added benefit, an OTA antenna provides reception for second sets in homes or apartments not wired for whole-house signal distribution.
Considering the investment in TV entertainment already made by many viewers, except for location problems, why would they not have a Digital Off-Air Antennas as a second signal source?
If you don't have one, buy it from a source that will refund your purchase price, no questions asked, until you find the right antenna.
I have a Dish Network VIP 622 w/OTA tuner. The OTA allows me to record 3 shows at once along with the 2 satellite tuners. the picture is slightly better than the satellites.
I use OTA (rooftop ChannelMaster 4228). The local cable provider (Cox) compresses pretty heavily. The OTA quality is usually significantly better, especially when during football season. NBC is bad enough by itself, but squeezed even more by Cox it hurts my eyes. Unless there is absolutely no reasonable way to get it (which doesn't include many) there isn't any reason not to take the time to get OTA in your setup.
I use OTA to get the sub channels unavailable any other way. Now if
I have to in order to get FOX (WLUK) in HD. What a joke!
I use cable right now, but I have an OTA HD antenna and an hd decoder card in my mythbox. Just haven't had the change to install the antenna yet.
My satellite company does not offer PBS-HD. That and sometimes, we record two things on the DVR that we want to watch later and there's a third program to watch at the same time. That's when we go OTA.