OTA antennas compatible with NextGen TV

With media companies putting the squeeze on service providers and streaming services hiking their rates, old-school OTA TV broadcasts can save homeowners money.

If you have followed the news over the past several months, then you are probably aware of the shifting streaming video and TV broadcast service provider landscapes. There is, however, a cost-friendly solution available to consumers that has evolved to stay technologically relevant: OTA (over the air) broadcast media antennas.

Yes—old-school broadcast—the format that many grew up on; rabbit ears and the “big three networks of CBS, ABC and NBC.

Providing a brief overview of the pay TV broadcast landscape, over the past couple of years, large service providers, including Dish, Comcast, and DirecTV, have gone through a series of carriage disputes with media companies such as Cox Media Group, Tegna, and Altitude. These disputes have led to channel blackouts that include many regional sports networks (RSNs), as well as affiliate stations for broadcasters that include NBC, CBS, and Fox.

Ultimately, these disputes leave consumers in the lurch, unable to watch their favorite shows and sports teams because these media companies don’t have a grasp on the current state of home entertainment where service providers are shedding subscribers as consumer increase their streaming media consumption, and the service providers are fighting to maintain their subscription bases, which means holding the line on subscription costs.

Laying out just how bad it’s been for service providers, Nexttv.com reports that Comcast lost 543,000 paid TV subscribers during the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. Meanwhile, Charter, the story continues lost 241,000 during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.

Unfortunately, the news hasn’t been much better for the satellite companies. As part of its third quarter (Q3) 2023 earnings report, the service provider Dish reported a loss of 64,000 traditional TV subscribers, which leaves the company with a total of 6.72 million pay TV subscribers. Buttoning these losses up, a press release from the media research firm Leichtman Research Group, Inc., from August 2023 states DirecTV lost 400,000 subscribers in Q2 2023.

Citing the broadcast TV subscription losses more succinctly for Q2 2023, Leichtman Research Group, Inc., states major pay TV service provides lost approximately 1.7 million subscribers during the period. Cepro