/r/cordcutters
A place for those looking to get away from the traditional cable tv model, and move toward cheaper and legal options like over the air antenna, library collections, and streaming services.
/r/CordCutters - Say Goodbye to your Cable TV Provider!
Cordcutting news, advice, recommendations, questions, and information about the latest streaming services, devices, and antennas for cordcutters.
Guide for Getting Weather Reports & Live News during Hurricanes - 2020
NFL Guide (updated annually in late summer/early fall)
MLB Guide (will be replaced once we have an enthusiastic baseball fan who is a moderator)
Because tvfool.com has stopped updating its data, you will need to verify and consult the other sources such as FCC Digital Television Reception Map, Rabbitears.info and the Antennas Direct map websites. If you are posting a request for help with an antenna, please use one of these sites instead of tvfool.com. Unfortunately, we don't know when or if tvfool.com will be updating its data.
Rules | description | |
---|---|---|
1. No spam | No spam, affiliate links, referral codes, self promotion, advertising, or novelty bots. No selling items or codes. No surveys, contests, or "research projects." | |
2. Stay on Topic | Off-topic, political, and meta posts will be removed. Reposts may be removed, please search before posting. Do not significantly alter any headlines when submitting a link. Social media and YouTube links will be highly scrutinized and may be removed. Nothing NSFW, including foul language. Low quality posts/comments will be removed. | |
3. No Piracy | No discussion of piracy (even in jest), IPTV, illegal streams, torrents, ad-blockers, VPNs, location spoofing, unofficial apps, scripts, side loading, things that may violate copyright, extensions, and the like. | |
4. No "workarounds" | No talk of sharing accounts, family plans, passwords, or anything that may break TOS. No discussion about sharing accounts (including Plex), sharing family plans, or sharing passwords. No discussion of anything that may violate the TOS of any services or "workarounds" that may do the same. | |
5. Be civil | Be civil and respectful, even in disagreement. Don't be rude or insult others. Follow Reddiquette. No hate speech, discriminatory remarks, personal attacks, bigotry, ban baiting or trolling. Don't be baited in to breaking the rules. Report bad users and let the mods handle it. All communications with the mods must be done via Mod Mail and must be civil, respectful, and courteous. | |
6. No ranting | Posts and comments that are needlessly negative or hostile toward cordcutting may be removed. Constructive feedback is welcome; aggressive complaining and/or ranting is not. Hyperbolic, acerbic, or otherwise inflammatory expressions of dissatisfaction will be classified as a "rant" and removed. | |
7. No disingenuous posts. | No bots or astroturf accounts that pretend to be real users or content. No AI generated posts. No ban evaders. | |
8. Be sure your post fits. | Posts and comments that are not a good fit for this community may be removed at the mod's discretion. This includes re-posts. |
Don't be baited in breaking our rules. Report violations, rude behavior, belligerence, and let the mods handle it. Bans may be issued for any rule violations including violations of Reddit's own rules.
Questions, complaints or suggestions about sub? Message the moderators here.
Tired of paying too much for cable television? Want more choice? Join us and become a cordcutter today. Get cordcutting advice on streaming devices, live streaming services, on demand services, antennas, and OTA DVRs.
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/r/cordcutters
Ugh. Fine. Guess I’ll just use plex more.
What do ya think of Peacock selling gift cards? I personally like it. I used to send my nephew and niece to get their own Peacock subscriptions.
https://www.rabbitears.info/s/1926104
Would want to pick up a few major channels at minimum. Thinking i want something that sticks on the window. I live in a trailer with metal siding. Also near a small airport mostly used by national guard and small planes. Attached is my report. Thanks
Hi guys. I'm just starting my journey with cutting the cable and going on over the air transmission to get local channels. And I have a roku. If anybody knows good advice on how to get great reception or any products that might help my viewing of the TV channels it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys have a great day
Reposting trying to get my images to display.
Hello & thanks in advance.
I am at a loss. I just cannot seem to get ABC OTA (and to a lesser extent PBS). I have spent way too much time & $ on this already but I'm stubborn & want to learn.
Recently I upgraded from a 40$ Chinese antenna to the Televes DATBoss LR. This thing is a 7 foot monster & I was sure it would solve my issue (if it fit in my attic, which it did, barely). While it did improve UHF stations & produce more UHF channels it did not fix my ABC/PBS issue.
Rabbitears.info says I have 2 ABC towers in range, using iPhone compass I have tried pointing the antenna at both of them (205 & 255 degrees). Was this correct or should I point at the magnetic direction rather than true direction? (Also when I point to 255 I lose PBS).
I did get ABC to come in decent for half a day, then a light storm rolled in and it comes in sporadically/not at all with cloud cover/light rain.
Below is my rabbit ears report, a diagram of my setup & photos of my antennas (the old one was removed from the attic)
I am using a generic pre amp that came with the old antenna, it's about 10 feet down the line from the antenna (plugged in the garage). I didn't figure this to be an issue since it works great with most channels & ABC works sometimes. I do have the Televes pre amp as well.
I am using mostly existing coax runs from prior Comcast installs. I did cut some cables to reduce length / splice new ends as needed.
I am using the channel master amplified 4 way splitter (CM3414) 60 ft down the line, this then splits to 4 TVs of various cable lengths. For my testing purposes I look at the nearest 2 (I do check the others as well), reception seems similar. I did notice reception seems worse if multiple screens are on (could be my imagination).
Am I missing something? Is this just as good as it gets for me with those stations being VHF? Is there a better antenna for my situation? Could I modify this antenna to improve VHF? Should I use 2 antennas pointing different ways then combine them? My attic is small but I could maybe raise another couple feet? Should I run 2 lines down from the pre amp? The closer TVs maybe don’t need that channel master amp boost?
My next steps are likely pointing at the magnetic direction (192 preferred so I get PBS as well or 242 for the closer ABC tower but then I lose PBS), swapping to the Televes pre amp &/or running it into the attic.
Trying to avoid a roof install or running new coax.
Looking at my purchase history… I’ve been working on this project since 2017.. now on my 3rd antenna, thought it would be easy lol.
Sorry for the mass of imperfect info. Any help is appreciated. I expect to be told to start from scratch with 1 TV.
Wife is annoyed at the time & effort I’ve put into this. Close to giving up again for another few years lol…Thanks.
Heard side of the house better to not impact roof. Any opinions? Thoughts?
that Spectrum and Comcast in merger talks, or at least considering it?
Spectrum and sure Comcast as well, have been losing many subscribers over last few years. Though I would think Comcast is in a better financial position with its other holdings
I am done with these guys. I called last week(took litterally 20 minutes fighting the computer AI lady to finally get a person in India) to inquire why after 10 years we are suddenly being charged overages for internet three of the last four months with no known usage in crease. He just kept saying yes you went over and that I can go unlimited. Geeze, thanks for the non answer. Anyways, I wanted to drop the home security we system that we have not used for years and inquire why we were going over. He said, ok, I can save you lots on your bill, but you will lose a couple channels like Bravo etc. Ok, sounds good to me! Click here and I will have your new TV boxes sent out. What I ended up receiving was this terribel little Zumo streaming boxes and it's not like having cable anymore. Called back and spend 1.5 hours trying to figure out what is going on. Ended up going back to my old boxes and now paying $285/month for internet and TV. Looking at youtibetv and it seems like it would be great.
99% of what I watch is sports, and I have a Samsung TV, which has the free Samsung Plus or whatever it's called...one of the channels is the Tennis Channel 2, which actually is streaming live matches in the mornings.
It made me wonder if any of the other free TV options have anything like that? I know they all have old games depending on the channel lineup, but do any of them show anything live (even if it's fairly obscure?)
I like in the USA about 45 miles from the CBC channel 9 tower in Windsor. The terrain is flat between me and it and I'm wondering if anyone has an ota in their attic who has picked up a station this far (VHF). Currently have a ChannelMaster 4228HD in garage attic which seems ok for 30 miles https://a.co/d/5yjfZDT
Thinking maybe a big Winegard antenna in my attic but wanted to ask to see if anyone has been successful in this range in an attic before spending the 💰
Thanks in advance - reason btw for CBC 9 is of course HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA 🇨🇦 🏒
I've used this for years as my tv guide. Recently, like three days ago, it stopped working on my Opera browser, will only load a blank white screen with a tiny > symbol in the upper left corner. Tried disabling all addons, ad blockers etc, but it doesn't work. Started using Edge to see it, worked until today when it started doing the exact same thing.
So, I today started accessing it via google chrome, but I have no reason to think it will continue working there at this point. Anybody have any idea why I'm just getting a white screen with a > in the upper left corner and nothing else?
EDIT: If anybody else is having this issue, I think I've solved the problem. Instead of the web address being Titantv.com as it always used to be, it is now https://partners.titantv.com
I only figured this out by searching for titantv help page, which loaded but with the partners in front. So, as of now, with the new address I have it working on all browsers.
Good Morning - Even though they will be bad this year I’d like to watch the White Sox this year. I have YouTube TV and a very basic digital antenna. I live in Downtown Chicago surrounded by tall buildings. My antenna (one of those flat ones) is near a window facing south.
I’ve done many scans but don’t get a lot of channels and many have a very low signal. I don’t even get channel 2. Also the channels for CHSN (62.2 and 62.3) don’t come in at all after many scans.
Is this a location issue or is there an antenna at a decent price that could fix this issue.
Evening Reddit,
I bought a ClearStream MAX-V a while ago and I am now unable to scan for more than 4 channels. I used to get about 30 channels at least including NBC, FOX and CBS. Here is a link to my Rabbit Ears link. How can I boost the signal and get more channels? I also have the ClearStream connected to Channel Master filter. Thanks in advance!
Should I return it and get something else? I seen some of you get good signal from these:
https://www.rabbitears.info/s/1924306
Specifically looking for a good indoor antenna and a way to improve the reach of my outdoor main antenna.
Geographically speaking, my house sits halfway up one side of a little valley and the room that I have the other TV in has south and west facing windows. Can’t see that closest tower until I’m basically on top of each hill.
My living room TV gets really consistent reception but I want to try getting those far out Rockford stations so I can have the Chicago Sports Network. As for the indoor antenna, the one I have struggles to maintain a good signal, lots of hiccups.
Any antenna recommendations for both indoor and outdoor? Maybe should I try a newer outdoor one, or raising the one I have?
I'm looking to drop the YTTV and go with just a regular antenna, no need for dvr. Just OTA TV is fine for me.
I have a link to the rabbit ears thing (if I did this right):
https://www.rabbitears.info/s/1924393
I don't think I'd get many stations. Does anybody have any recommendations on what to get? I'm in a second floor apartment building. Not sure I could do an outdoor antenna.
NBC is the most important channel, so if we can optimize the antenna for that, that would be great. Cost isn’t a problem, just want the best available. I have a good sized attic that will house the antenna.
I'm experiencing buffing while watching Plex on my Sony XBR-49X900E but not on my other devices. I compared the Internet Speed on the XBR-49X900E to my laptop while sitting in the same room and found my laptop was getting 250Mbps Up and 220Mbps Down while the Sony only got 22Mbps and 17MBps down on the same Wifi network. That's an huge difference! I'm thinking of running an ethernet cable from the router directly to the TV to improve the speed... since it will take quite a bit of work to snake the cable to the TV, I'm wondering if anyone else tried this.
We have had DirecTV for 12 years or so. It was great, until covid happened and streaming really ramped up. Our DirecTV bill is astronomical (222/mo!) now. We also pay for Prime, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and through prime- peacock and paramount so we can watch certain shows.
We honestly only use DirecTV for sports (especially NFL), some local news, and my small children really like to have Disney Jr or Nick Jr on because there's a variety of shows and the "commercials" are kid friendly and entertaining to them.
I've been wanting to cancel DirecTV for years and this last statement increase has really got me ready to do it but the second I go to call I chicken out! Has anyone regretted it?
ETA - We do have smart TVs, thankfully! Sony does have a wonderful "home" streaming platform (I prefer it over Samsung in case anyone is needing to decide between the two).
Haven’t done much research into antennas yet, but these signal strength results have me skeptical that I’ll find one worth it in my budget. Attic is as high as I’m willing to mount it and my home is only one story.
Here is my report: https://www.rabbitears.info/s/1923491.
I am in the NYC Metro area.
I am using an RCA DN010165 Amplified Flat Indoor HDTV Antenna. It's by a window but in an older home on the first floor so some thick walls. I've tried getting the stations both plugged in (amplified) and not amplified with the same results. I am open to changing antennas but an outdoor antenna is not an option.
Right now, I can get 100% signal quality/67% signal strength for CBS but I get nothing from FOX or NBC (25% signal strength/1% signal quality for both). I get ABC though with the same signal numbers as CBS. In the past, I've gotten NBC with the antenna in basically in the same spot and no ABC and at some point it's switched. I am a complete novice at this, but I feel like this doesn't make a lot of sense and would love any suggestions on what I can do to make this better. I feel like this report is telling me I should be getting these stations without issue and that they are all coming from basically the same direction and yet here I am.
I have another TV with a cheap leaf antenna that does pick up NBC most of the time but randomly drops it from time to time. No FOX. I usually chalk that one up to the antenna being cheap, but maybe if I can fix the issue above it will help with this as well.
Any insight anyone is willing to get is appreciated. It's very possible I'm reading the report wrong and would love help in figuring it out.
There are often combo subscriptions available such as:
Bundles:
I know there are many cellular plans and credit cards that offer streaming deals as well.
Please share any others you know of in comments.
Hey everyone. With the price increase of YTTV and it being the same as Hulu, has anyone switched?
I've had YTTV for years, no complaints. However, with the price increase I'm wondering what everyone's experience with Hulu is.
I used to pay the 70$ price point for YTTV. I got Hulu through my Spotify account (grandfathered in from an old plan). I paid for Disney plus a la carte and my wife pays for Spotify a la cart.
Now, for the same price, I can get live tv, Hulu, disney, and espn+. Then, my wife and I would go on Spotify duo.
I don't care about NFL Sunday ticket or the NBA stuff.
Has anyone made this switch?
Edit: sling, I apologize, I was not familiar with your game.
Second Edit: Cut out all live TV. Going with Tablo (THANK YOU REDDIT) and streaming apps to watch the shows we want. Streaming bill goes from 105/mo to 43/mo
This is probably my last “dumb” OTA post! Thanks to everybody else who has reviewed my other ones and tried to help me.
I can fully admit, I probably didn’t do enough research on this before I started down the path, I’ve learned a lot, and it’s from Reddit.
I feel like the last part of the puzzle for me, which is unknown, is things that can effect the signal?
The last three Saturdays in a row, I have tried to watch some form of sports turned it on, and the reception is terrible. Yesterday it was the pebble beach pro am. Tried different channels and all shit. Today, turned it on, and it’s money again.
Does cloud cover or like humidity or something with the weather affect the quality of the signal? Im picturing old cable vs satellite adds
Or is it like Internet bandwidth? When lots of people are trying to watch at the same time, the quality of the signal could get depleted?
For those familiar with HDHR, everything yesterday afternoon was 2 to 3 Mbps. Today, everything is back up at 8 to 10.
I had asked a few days back with some suggestions for indoor antennas. As many recommended, I tried a cheap bunny ears set up that I bought from Amazon.
Today, I have all major networks and local channels just with this simple setup (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, KTLA) ! HUGE thanks to this amazing community for the help with this cord cutting newbie.
Link to original post- https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/s/EuCijq4fxV
YouTube TV's recent price hike has made it an increasingly poor value for viewers like me who primarily consume news and informational programming. I believe YouTube TV should introduce a non-sports bundle priced at $35 to cater to this audience. I think with Disney and others unbundling sports and cable launching slimmer bundles now is the time.
Personally, I watch a lot of CNBC, which now has its own dedicated app for $14 a month. My Sunday routine also includes shows like Face the Nation, CBS Sunday Morning, and Fareed Zakaria GPS. Fortunately, many of these programs are available through apps like Paramount+ and Max. However, while these apps generally work well, there can occasionally be delays in posting them which is not ideal - but it works. Most of them are avail for free as podcasts immediately tho.
Most of these apps are included with other memberships I already have. For example:
In short, the traditional "big bundle" model feels like it's dead but nobody wants to admit it so they can keep high fees as long as they can. While YouTube TV offers a fantastic user experience with its consistent interface and ease of use, customers like me are effectively subsidizing sports content we don’t watch. When the price increased to $82 per month, I initially canceled. They offered to keep my price steady, and I also benefit from a $10 discount on my T-Mobile bill for maintaining my subscription. But come July, I’m hoping YouTube TV will finally offer a more tailored, skinnier bundle for users like me.
Is this the end for the big bundle at long last? For viewers who only need access to local channels, CNBC, and maybe some international news, a $35 package would be ideal. YouTube TV product managers—are you listening?
I have my Tubi account (on my Amazing Fire television) set on timer for the Super Bowl.
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For it to activate when the time comes, do I :
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2. Need to make sure my TV is switched on, on any channel, leading up to the event, and it will make itself go to Tubi when the time comes?
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3. Both need to have the TV on, AND need to have the Tubi app open, leading up to the event, so that Tubi will show the event when the time comes.
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In other words, I am not sure just exactly how much needs to be done in preparation, leading up to it, for things to load when the time comes.
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As I said, I have it on timer. Suppose I am gone from the house all day until 7:00 PM. When I walk in, would the game be on there on Tubi, having activated on its own?