I don't get it. Who's broadcasting the signal? How do they get paid?
This must be one of my favorite comments ever on HN. The more I look at it, the more I can't decide if its serious or satire.
The TV antenna is making a comeback
151–160 of 254 posts
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#152As much as I like the idea of free broadcast TV and not being dependent on cable/satellite companies ... 1) Is over-the-air broadcast TV widely used anywhere? Very few even know about it where I live, but maybe there are places where it's more common. 2) Is it essential to any group of people? 3) Could we get more beneift from that spectrum by repurposing it for something else?
1) In the US, its everywhere. Usually, the more urban the location, the more channels you can get.
2) It used to be the only way to get TV. And it costs a tiny fraction of any other type of content provider. So you could say its essential to low income people or people who think its immoral to support comcast.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#153This kind of TV is the 'default' here in the UK (Freeview) - we get about 50-60 digital channels and 10 HD channels. I suspect cable TV is actually on the rise here, but can't find stats to back that up.
The Brits really have us beat here. For Americans, take a look at this list: http://www.ukfree.tv/channels/all
On the other hand, they have to pay an annual government tax just for owning a TV.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Norway and Sweden have excellent Fiber-to-the-Home and very low population density. You can get 1GBit/s symmetrical quite cheaply (I don't remember how much, one Swedish offer I found just now is $120/month).
1. I suspect that offer isn't available in northern Norway. 2. They are only a couple hundred miles from the big internet exchanges in the Netherlands and Germany. Most of those miles can be covered with undersea cables, so you don't need to dig, which is expensive. 3. The U.S. regulatory environment for internet providers is horrible and everyone knows it.
See [1], which is a request to tender: "Tromsø Municipality will contribute to the initiation of construction of a powerful and progressive fibre-based broadband network in the outskirts of the municipality of Tromsø". I assume that means the town itself already has it.
Or [2], a press statement from Luleå's largest fibre broadband provider, back in 2012.
Both places are in the Arctic, Tromsø is 3000km from Amsterdam. NYC to London is only 5,500km...
[1] http://www.publictenders.net/node/1956874
[2] https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/...
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#155I don't get it. Who's broadcasting the signal? How do they get paid?
Local television stations (__not__ networks - although there are a small number, limited by law, of network owned-and-operated local stations - usually the biggest markets), which may or may not be affiliated with a network (CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC), broadcast the signals.
If a local station is affiliated with a network, they've agreed to broadcast the network's prime-time feed (7pm - ~midnight) including the national ads that the network has sold to large brands.
The local tv stations get (not very many) ad spots to insert in between national ads. The local tv station does not generally get any revenue from the national ads (the big ads for big brands - Coke, Apple, Nike) and only receive revenue from local ads (Stu's burger shack down on main street).
There are also open slots where the national network does not have shows scheduled and local stations can broadcast locally produced shows, News, and, sadly, tons of infomercials. This is the non-prime-time - daytime, weekends and late night.
If the show being broadcast is locally produced, there are generally more open ad slots for local ads. It is possible that the local station also gets a cut of national advertising during that show.
The local TV station has purchased the exclusive right to use the frequency/channel (in a particular "market") from the Federal Government, but has to provide, as part of the agreement, a number of things, "to promote the public welfare" - such as educational programming, community service programming, and a few other things.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#156My understanding is that OTA HDTV is actaully uncompressed, which means you get the best HDTV picture quality when receiving over the air. Cable, uVerse, DirecTV etc all compress their HDTV signals resulting in far more artifacts and pixelization. It is far more noticable when you have a 120 inch projector displaying a football game with lots of moving images etc.
OTA uses the 8VSB modulation standard, which provides about 19 mbit/sec of payload. If your station is not broadcasting any subchannels it's a VERY nice signal. (It's still compressed with MPEG-2, the raw bitrate of a 1080p video is over 1Gbit/sec) Unfortunately most channels in my market are sending 3-4 subchannels which knocks down the quality of the primary. AFAIK only Fox broadcasts a single stream (and football…
It depends on your local station; my Fox affiliate does have subchannels. But the Fox network is only 720p anyway, so they should have the bandwidth available.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#157Winegard makes nice affordable OTA TV antennas. They are made in America too. http://www.winegard.com/hdtv-outdoor-antennas?q=offair
Costco carries a few different TV antennas including Winegard models. They're only about $40, they are flat and inconspicuous (basically look like a paper towel) and they work great!
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#158I don't get it. Who's broadcasting the signal? How do they get paid?
Same idea as Google, Youtube, Facebook, etc. The business model has existed for far longer than the internet.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#159I'm 24 and I have never had cable in my life. Frankly, I'm surprised it's not more common. You get a LOT of TV for free. I grew up watching PBS and Simpsons and etc.
I remember at superbowl some of my friends were amazed that I was able to watch the football game without cable. I was floored. They didn't even know that channels came in over the air. I showed them the antenna, where it installs in the TV, how cheap they are. I got HD video without having to pay anything.
These weren't dumb people either. They worked for tech companies. They legitimately did not know it was an option.
A lot of people cut their cables after that party.
Re: The TV antenna is making a comeback
#160I don't get it. Who's broadcasting the signal? How do they get paid?
This sounds like a line from Silicon Valley.