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Millennials Unearth an Amazing Hack to Get Free TV: the Antenna (wsj.com)

Posted by msmash on from the eureka dept.

From a report on WSJ: Dan Sisco has discovered a technology that allows him to access half a dozen major TV channels, completely free. "I was just kind of surprised that this is technology that exists (alternative source)," says Mr. Sisco, 28 years old. "It's been awesome. It doesn't log out and it doesn't skip." Let's hear a round of applause for TV antennas, often called "rabbit ears," a technology invented roughly seven decades ago, long before there was even a cord to be cut, which had been consigned to the technology trash can along with cassette tapes and VCRs. The antenna is mounting a quiet comeback, propelled by a generation that never knew life before cable television, and who primarily watch Netflix , Hulu and HBO via the internet. Antenna sales in the U.S. are projected to rise 7 percent in 2017 to nearly 8 million units, according to the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group. Mr. Sisco, an M.B.A. student in Provo, Utah, made his discovery after inviting friends over to watch the Super Bowl in 2014. The online stream he found to watch the game didn't have regular commercials -- disappointing half of his guests who were only interested in the ads. "An antenna was not even on my radar," he says. He went online and discovered he could buy one for $20 and watch major networks like ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS free.

5 of 564 comments (clear)

  1. Using a TV antenna to watch TV by scourfish · · Score: 5, Funny

    And they said that MBA's were useless. Sure showed them.

  2. Is this sarcasm? by clonehappy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or are people really stupid enough to not know about broadcast fucking TV?

    an M.B.A student

    Oh, nevermind.

    1. Re:Is this sarcasm? by Gilgaron · · Score: 5, Funny

      So... how long did you wait to start mailing her invoices for the radio subscription in her car?

    2. Re:Is this sarcasm? by c6gunner · · Score: 5, Funny

      In order to look something up you have to know it exists.

      You've obviously never gotten lost on a wikipedia excursion. After a few hours not only do you find things you had no clue existed, you find things you would have never wanted to know about.

  3. Re: Paywalled by bestweasel · · Score: 5, Funny

    I tried one of those. Fairly low resolution but huge screen size for a portable; manual zoom and the other controls are basic but work well, though not when it's windy for some reason. Easy to read in bright sunlight but sadly there's no backlight. Water resistance is poor though I saw someone using one as a makeshift hat in a downpour! Annotations can be made with an ink or graphite stylus. Cut and Paste works but is messy and Copy is quite slow. I've had mine for several weeks and as far as I can tell, it never needs recharging. I can't get the updates to work though.