TV shows without cable/satellite

[Jammor]

I see where more and more HTPCers are cutting the cord.

My family likes to watch the latest sitcom and History Channel episodes; cable news; and ESPN. I'm just curious...for those who have left cable/satellite, do you just go without current sitcoms / History Channel; cable news; and ESPN?

Hulu? I tried the free version a year or so ago but was not impressed with how little (interesting) content was available.

Netflix is cool but don't you have to wait until a sitcom season comes out on DVD before you can stream or rent it on Netflix and Amazon?

I'm familiar with torrents but concerned with legal issues and the message it might send to my kids.

 

[velillen]

I go without for the most part on the ones you listed. I do have an antenna so I get ota channels to my htpcs. Still quite a bit on those channels. I then use netflix and amazon instant video. I might not get to watch every show right away but I still get a decent amount.

Anymore I wait till a show has the full season before I watch it anyways. I hate having to wait a week to watch and would rather watch the entire thing on my tome frame

 

[pkscout]

I also have access to the basic networks, in my case as part of my cable internet package. It looks like the History Channel stuff is online, so depending on your setup you might be able to watch that stuff on your TV. ESPN is going to be the hardest I think. I don't watch much sports, so it was much easier to go with just the big 4 networks and a combination of Hulu and iTunes.

 

[Plugers]

If you're into car stuff, I know "Power Block TV" is free online.

 

[tw1164]

You should check to see if you ISP offers ESPN3, you can view a lot of college games on ESPN3.

 

[tydas]

Well, I would love to cut the cord but my wife and family would not tolerate moving away from the 'ease' of cable TV...lets face it, all the methods you mention are not simple push button selections...

 

[Jammor]

You should check to see if you ISP offers ESPN3, you can view a lot of college games on ESPN3.

Yes, I watch some college basketball on ESPN3.com but have always done so in front of my 22" LCD computer monitor.

In another thread, I talk about the PC-based media extender I'm building. Are you suggesting that using a PC hooked to a TV running a browser to navigate to a website (e.g. ESPN3) using a wireless keyboard / trackball and start a video just like I do with a mouse and my desktop PC?

Or do I need something like Google TV to launch an ESPN3 app?

Apologies in advance for the noob questions - for years I have been using SageTV extenders and MediaMVP extenders to watch TV / ripped movies from a SageTV server so just not quite sure yet how to watch internet content like you suggest from my sofa.

 

[Jammor]

Well, I would love to cut the cord but my wife and family would not tolerate moving away from the 'ease' of cable TV...lets face it, all the methods you mention are not simple push button selections...

Agreed - my wife and kids, including my 5 year old, can navigate the current DVR software (SageTV) to get to live TV, recorded shows, and ripped movies with ease from either a TV with a remote or via placeshifter software on Linux, MAC, and Windows PCs we have in the house.

Wondering if viewing web based content on the TV from my sofa is as easy as what I have now. My WAF is very high now...depending on how much of a challenge it is to navigate to and watch web based content, the WAF could drop significantly and then I have to go back to square one (grin)

 

[kalrith]

Are you suggesting that using a PC hooked to a TV running a browser to navigate to a website (e.g. ESPN3) using a wireless keyboard / trackball and start a video just like I do with a mouse and my desktop PC?

That's what I do. My HTPC is connected directly to my TV and HT system in the livingroom. I use my Harmony remote with a USB receiver for everything I can get through Win7 Media Center. Then I use a dinovo mini (tiny keyboard/mouse combo) for streaming through a browser. I watch ESPN3, History Channel, Food Network, Lifetime, etc. using this method.

Edit: I spent about $500 3.5 years ago to build an HTPC with a dual tuner and OTA satellite. My DirecTV bill was $80/month. So, I paid for the HTPC in about 6 months and have saved $2800 since then

 

[Jammor]

That's what I do. My HTPC is connected directly to my TV and HT system in the livingroom. I use my Harmony remote with a USB receiver for everything I can get through Win7 Media Center. Then I use a dinovo mini (tiny keyboard/mouse combo) for streaming through a browser. I watch ESPN3, History Channel, Food Network, Lifetime, etc. using this method.

Edit: I spent about $500 3.5 years ago to build an HTPC with a dual tuner and OTA satellite. My DirecTV bill was $80/month. So, I paid for the HTPC in about 6 months and have saved $2800 since then

I use an HDHR dual tuner for unencrypted HD locals via the cable company and it works extremely well. I tried several different Radio Shack digital antennas along with the HDHR to get OTA locals with very poor results. I could tune one or two of them sometimes but never all of them. There are mountain peaks around here that make it difficult for OTA. I've been told (on forum boards) that if I spent more money on a better OTA antenna for the attic or built my own I'd have a better chance of tuning the OTAs. edit: but haven't wanted to roll the dice to find out.


TV Fool shows that I should be able to get all the main network affiliates w/ just a set top antenna but that hasn't been the case with the Radio Shack powered antennas I've tried.

 

[kalrith]

Unless you're far from the towers, then using an amp with your antenna will actually cause problems instead of fixing them. Make sure you're using your specific address for tvfool. It would probably be even more accurate if you looked up the longitude and latitude of your antenna location and used that in tvfool. Then you could post your tvfool link here.

You could also try looking for your area's OTA forum on avsforum. I found my area's forum to be very helpful. FWIW, I use a CM4228 antenna mounted on my roof about 20' off the ground with no amp. I have 60-foot oak trees surrounding my property, but I still pull in a full signal for all the main locals besides Fox, which is a joke of a station in my area . Here's my tvfool link for reference: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=5ed6251745a4ee

 

[Jammor]

Unless you're far from the towers, then using an amp with your antenna will actually cause problems instead of fixing them. Make sure you're using your specific address for tvfool. It would probably be even more accurate if you looked up the longitude and latitude of your antenna location and used that in tvfool. Then you could post your tvfool link here.

You could also try looking for your area's OTA forum on avsforum. I found my area's forum to be very helpful. FWIW, I use a CM4228 antenna mounted on my roof about 20' off the ground with no amp. I have 60-foot oak trees surrounding my property, but I still pull in a full signal for all the main locals besides Fox, which is a joke of a station in my area . Here's my tvfool link for reference: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=5ed6251745a4ee

I found this on AVS:
The Official AVS Antenna and Related Hardware Topic!

Is there a forum for my "area" (zip, city, et al) - my initial search didn't show one.

Ultimately I want to take another run at an OTA antenna but my immediate curiosity is watching internet TV programs on my TV.

 

[kalrith]

Here's the thread that lists all the areas in the US: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1269188/united-states-thread-index-find-your-local-discussion-thread-here. There are lists for Canada and Mexico as well. Sorry I didn't put the link in my original post.

 

[piasabird]

I am into Korean shows with subtitles. There is a huge TV industry in South Korea. It could be described as a Renaissance of the awareness of asian culture and historical dramas. What really surprises me is the quality of their work and their ability to stream it so well and their willingness to make it available for free.

One other factor is that they started this in part by wanting to produce Historical Films about Korean history dating back many 100's and even thousands of years. They also took their time doing it. Imagine a historical series with over 70 1 hour episodes? Another factor is their ability to tell stories from the point of view of both Women and men. They seem to like discovering the evil hearted women and men and the constant struggle between good and evil and they do it in a dramatic way staying away from the typical Sex Crazed lunatic methods used in the USA. You just have to watch some dramas to understand this dramatic way of producing films in good taste.

I like to watch Korean Historical series Shows.

There are more interesting shows than the ones I have listed. They are all with English Sub-Titles. I will add more as I remember them.

Typical sites for korean Shows:
http://www.hulu.com/
http://www.dramafever.com/
http://www.viki.com/
http://www.crunchyroll.com/ (Mostly Anime)(Video Game Commercials)
http://www.mysoju.com/browse/historical/popular/ (Historical Asian Dramas)(List)


Some of the shows I have watched:

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Chuno&st=1&fs=null
(Slave Hunter)(Plot line is pretty good)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=The+Duo&st=1&fs=null
(Children switched at Birth) (One Rich, One Poor)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Jewel+in+the+Palace&st=1&fs=null
(Famous Female Cook and Physician)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=jumong&st=1&fs=null
(Jumong Bronze Age Famous King)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=The+Kingdom+of+the+Winds&st=1&fs=null
(Kingdom created by Jumong)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=The+Great+Queen+SeonDeok&st=1&fs=null
(Built a Tower for Stellar Observations)(Kingdom of Silla)

http://www.dramafever.com/drama/46/1/The Return of Iljimae/
(Korean Robin Hood)

http://www.mysoju.com/korean-movie/the-divine-weapon/the-movie/
(Movie about First Rocket Weapons) (need new link)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Tamra+Island&st=1&fs=null
(A white man shiprecked at Cheju Island)(Female Sea Divers)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=damo&st=1&fs=null
(Female Police Maid)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=The+Painter+of+the+Wind&st=1&fs=null
(Famous Painter Female hides as Male)
(Koreans have a mystique about Females disguised as Males)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Sungkyunkwan+Scandal&st=1&fs=null
(Scholar Female hides as Male)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Jejoongwon&st=1&fs=null
(Western Style Korean Doctors)

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Tree+With+Deep+Roots&st=1&fs=null
(King develops Korean Phonetic Alphabet) (Complicated well devoped fast moving plot)

http://www.viki.com/channels/1116-kim-sooro/videos/10053/1
Kim SooRo legendary founder of Geumgwan Gaya (City State)

http://www.dramafever.com/drama/18/1/Yi_San/
It seems every Korean child knows this great historical epic.

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=dong+yi&st=1&fs=null
(Low class becomes Queen)

http://www.hulu.com/#!search?q=Kimchi+Family
A caring family with a Kim-Chi Restraunt and how they help people

http://www.hulu.com/#!bridal-mask
Koreans revolt during Japanese Occupation