The end is near - 29% of Americans dont know you can get free tv through an antenna

Is it free if I have to buy an antennae? Shouldn't the government pay for that?

lrcrealistguy wrote:

Is it free if I have to buy an antennae? Shouldn't the government pay for that?

Make your own out of metal coat hangers.

Carlos would be a Gen Z-er not a millennial.

Millennial = 1980 - 1995

Generation Z = 1996 - 2010

seasoned millennial wrote:

Carlos would be a Gen Z-er not a millennial.

Millennial = 1980 - 1995

Generation Z = 1996 - 2010

Ummm, no. Millennias = Two Thousand, 2000. Millennials are so bad with numbers they think 1995 = 2000.

Earlier this year, he got an earful from a woman who didn’t get it. “She was mad,” he recalls. “She says, ‘No, you can’t live in America for free, what are you talking about?’”

So brainwashed into the idea that we exist to serve corporate interests that taking a legal avenue to circumvent monopoly is seen as morally suspect. Wonderful.

Millennial Math wrote:

seasoned millennial wrote:

Carlos would be a Gen Z-er not a millennial.

Millennial = 1980 - 1995

Generation Z = 1996 - 2010

Ummm, no. Millennias = Two Thousand, 2000. Millennials are so bad with numbers they think 1995 = 2000.

Take a seat and learn something while you are here at letsrun. A lot of the premise in the term millennial stems from those were coming of adult age at the turn of millennium aka those who graduated in the class of 2000.

Ya know you can get food for free, too, with a WIC or EBT card.

seasoned millennial wrote:

Millennial Math wrote:

Ummm, no. Millennias = Two Thousand, 2000. Millennials are so bad with numbers they think 1995 = 2000.

Take a seat and learn something while you are here at letsrun. A lot of the premise in the term millennial stems from those were coming of adult age at the turn of millennium aka those who graduated in the class of 2000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials#Date_and_age_range_defining

YAWN!!!! Millennials = 2000

Typical stupid millennials who create their own incorrect wiki page.

millennials: Plural form of millennial,

- Occurring every thousand years

- Occurring at the end or beginning of a millennium

http://www.wordnik.com/words/millennial

Frankly, the fact that younger folks are not aware of this is not terribly surprising. Not a big deal. If you are of a certain age you literally have never seen a TV antenna.

Also, the reception sucks and you have to watch commercials and there isn't really any good programming on local free channels. I tried it recently. Not worth the effort. Better to spend time doing something else, or get cable.

I sit with 4 millenials at the office. I just posed this question to them. You're in the middle of the forest with a tv. It has a long extension cord giving it power. But there's no WifI or cell service. And no way to get additional power. How do you get a picture on the tv? Three of the four were stumped, once finally come up with the idea of using "some kind of antenna or something".

*one not once

To get back on topic, the reception with digital over-the-air TV is very hit or miss and is not a viable alternative for lots of people. You have to be able to put the antenna in the right spot to get reception, which may not work for people who live in apartments or whose reception is blocked by terrain.

I can only get some terrible religious or educational stations over the air despite living in the middle of an urban area because of hills near my house that block the transmissions from the local network affiliates. Before the digital switchover this wasn't an issue, but since cable and satellite have penetrated so much of the market, I get the impression that most local TV stations don't much care if no one can get their signals over the air.

Anyway, I bet more than 29% of Americans couldn't get good reception of all of the main network channels over the air even if they wanted, at least without installing some sort of tall outdoor antenna.

feldman wrote:

I sit with 4 millenials at the office. I just posed this question to them. You're in the middle of the forest with a tv. It has a long extension cord giving it power. But there's no WifI or cell service. And no way to get additional power. How do you get a picture on the tv? Three of the four were stumped, once finally come up with the idea of using "some kind of antenna or something".

The problem is that the signals are line of sight, or whatever it's called. I'm no electrical engineer. If you're in the forest you ain't getting reception. I barely get reception at my house in the burbs. Sure I could mount a massive contraption on my roof, but then that would be against HOA codes.

I sometimes wonder why the TV companies don't throw in a cheap indoor antenna, so that their product would do something without additional hardware. Radios pretty much always have an antenna included.

Little Doper 🌌 wrote:

I sometimes wonder why the TV companies don't throw in a cheap indoor antenna, so that their product would do something without additional hardware. Radios pretty much always have an antenna included.

cheap indoor antennas don't work for tvs as they typically do for raio...I don't know the technical reasons why (transmission power, location, etc.), but that's the fact

Wal-Mart sells some sort of antenna thingy in the "as seen on TV" section near the checkout lines.

I would think using an antennae would appeal to the hipsters.

Several years ago when broadcast signals when digital, everyone in the US was eligible for a free converter box to be used with their old TV. I have a great old 13" color TV with antennae in our spare room my kids like to watch Curious George and Arthur on public television

Just some amazing, truly interesting NRR threads from Rojo today.

john utah wrote:

Little Doper 🌌 wrote:

I sometimes wonder why the TV companies don't throw in a cheap indoor antenna, so that their product would do something without additional hardware. Radios pretty much always have an antenna included.

cheap indoor antennas don't work for tvs as they typically do for raio...I don't know the technical reasons why (transmission power, location, etc.), but that's the fact

Depends on where you live, but I've watched tv over rabbit ears that was better than any picture I've gotten through cable.