A few months ago, my parents moved to a different part of town and one of the services they had to switch was cable. Due to franchise agreements in San Diego, they had to switch providers. My dad called me and asked for advice on what cable TV package to get and I had no idea because I don’t have cable TV and have a different provider. However, we went through the shows that my parents recorded on their TiVo and with a few exceptions, the shows were all on broadcast TV. I suggested that my dad give an antenna a try as that would be a lot cheaper and he wouldn’t have to pick a package. He agree and I told him to order an Antennas Direct ClearStream Antenna
The antenna arrived a few days later, I assembled it, set it on the ground and started tuning channels. We got a ton of channels, but missed NBC, I believe. I raised the antenna up a few feet and got NBC and other channels. At that moment, the decision to just use an antenna was solidified. I put the antenna in the attic, fished the coax up there, and that was it. (My dad already had a lifetime subscription to TiVo and the current generation of TiVo boxes handle antennas without problems; I believe a few years ago this wasn’t the case.)
It has now been a few months and my parents are happy with the picture quality and the channels they get; I’m sure there are a few shows they’d like, but I’m not sure the cost justifies them. There are many options between Amazon Prime, Netflix or even buying episodes on iTunes that they’re content. My parents aren’t sports people, so not having ESPN and the like isn’t a problem.
I dropped cable a few years ago and haven’t look back. My father would have purchased a TV package from the cable company, but the choices were too overwhelming, so instead I saved him a bunch of money. Many content providers are already offering programming outside of cable which is excellent and will have to be content with just being a pipe for the Internet.