We’re all about saving money here on Computers Made Simple. Although we haven’t had any cable or satellite TV for years, we are still able to watch just about anything we want, when we want. Here’s how we do it:

1. OTA (over the air) TV – Every new HDTV comes with what they call an ATSC tuner. All this means to you is that you can hook up a basic antenna to the TV and receive at least a few channels, all for free. We are in Canada, Toronto to be specific, so we have a wide choice of absolutely free OTA television. Your total channel selection may vary but we get at least twenty-five HDTV stations plus some incidental SD (standard definition) ones. The best part of this is that the HDTV channels are much crisper than what we would get if we paid for cable. Why? Because your cable company compresses the HDTV channels that it receives by satellite and OTA antenna before they send them off to you. The definition of the free OTA reception will astound you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Netflix/Hulu etc. – If you have a reasonably fast Internet connection and a decent usage cap, let’s say something around 200 to 300 gigabytes a month, you can access more streaming movies and TV than you can watch in a lifetime.  We’ve had Netflix for years and love it. It’s cheap, $7.99 a month, and provides complete TV series plus its own home-made content. Indeed, some of the Netflix creations are just as popular as those put out by the larger cable producers, HBO for instance. Hulu isn’t available here in Canada, not without a VPN anyway, but it and other providers offer very popular content too. Most recent DVD players and some HDTVs have the ability to stream all of these providers and more. As well, the Play Station game consoles and Apple TV are capable of supplying the HDTV content to your HDTV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Sports Subscriptions – Every major league sport offers a premium subscription package which allows you to watch virtually every game in their respective seasons. From hockey to baseball to soccer and basketball, you can get your fill of game play for around $100.00 per year. We subscribe to the Major League Baseball package and we get all pre-season games plus the full regular season and playoffs. On top of that, we can watch any game at a time that suits us, not only when it’s on live. Many of you spend that much per month to see a few games per month.  The package is a fantastic deal compared to regular cable, at least in our opinion.

4. Network Streaming – Except in some cases, the Olympics being one, all the major networks stream their own shows from their respective sites. Yes, you have to watch ads but you get complete episodes without resorting to illegal torrents or any number of foreign sites that stream these shows as well. In the case of the Olympics, NBC has chosen to lock-out non-cable viewers. In Canada, the CBC streams live and recorded Olympic content to anyone, as long as they are in Canada, that is.

5. Alternative Streaming Sites – Every now and then we find something that we want to watch but can’t find coverage through any of our regular sources. In those cases, we turn to the darker side of the Internet and watch the event on one of the many streaming sites that are out there. Unless you have a good ad blocker as well as an excellent anti-virus app, we wouldn’t recommend this. We also won’t suggest any sites since many have adult ads and pop-ups. The option is there if you want to pursue it but be careful.

6. TV Capture Cards – Your new HDTV is great for OTA viewing but sometimes you might want to have access to a DVR (digital video recorder). For that, we suggest one the many Hauppauge tuner cards for your computer. We have used Hauppauge products for years. Our latest card has two tuners and can record either two shows at the same time or one while you watch something else. Pricing varies but everything you need is in the box. Additionally, if you have am HDTV somewhere else in your home, you can stream content from your computer using an Xbox 360 game console or several other types of hardware.

The options are out there. You don’t have to pay through the nose for entertainment, no matter what your cable company says. There are alternatives, some free, some very low cost.

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