TV OTA vs. OTT

OTA is an acronym for Over the Air, meaning antenna. OTT means Over the Top and refers to watching TV using the internet (also called streaming). Millions of people around the world have been replacing cable with OTT monthly offerings, due to cable's extremely high fees and multi-year no-cut contracts. All of the OTT offerings have a free period, usually seven days to test and see if you like the service.

Many people are also discovering antennas today are not like the old days and offer many more free channels. Additionally, antennas produce a better picture than any of the cable or OTT services (excluding 4K) because they do not compress the signal coming into your house. Also, there are many relatively inexpensive (less than $20) indoor antennas that can be attached to a window, so no need to climb up on the roof as we did in the past. Unfortunately rural areas still mostly lack local service.

There are eight OTT players with live TV vying for your TV dollars: PlayStation Vue, AT&T TV NOW, AT&T Watch, Hulu, Sling TV, Philo, FuboTV, and YouTube TV. Each has a curated list of offerings, with some catering to sports fans, or families, or variety. Most offer multiple options to use and pay for more or less channels.

They all stream live TV and selected movies over the internet and require a smart TV or a box, like fireTV, Roku, Chromecast, etc. Luckily, each device is a one time purchase, some as low as $24.95. Some services do not play on all boxes, so check before you buy. Almost all offer addons, like Netflix and Prime purchased through them or separately. Many, but not all offer live sports.

Disney+ is coming this fall, but will not offer live TV, just movies, old TV reruns, and some original content, like Netflix and Prime. Incidentally, Netflix will have 158.8 million viewers of the 182.5 million people using OTT services in 2019. Amazon Prime Video is the second most-popular service behind Netflix, with 96.5 million subscribers.

AT&T TV (not to be confused with AT&T TV NOW or AT&T Watch) is a new service that is meant to eventually replace satellite services AT&T Uverse and AT&T DirectTV. It is sold as a two year bundle and prices like traditional cable. Also, like cable, has penalties for early termination, requires a box like cable, and extra fees.

The major benefits for considering OTT is to save money, as much as $100 per month or more by not paying for all the extra channels on cable that you do not watch. Some people switch out one service for another, such as for those that provide sports in the fall, then switching again in spring or adding Netflix to watch new series, then dropping when the series is over. This adds variety and still keeps costs down. Services begin as low as $15 per month and can go as high as close to $100 per month.

Many seniors especially, have found that an antenna alone provides enough entertainment and is totally free of monthly payments. Others have added an antenna as a backup for OTT sports blackouts or when there are contract disputes and local channels are temporarily unavailable. Many places have over thirty channels available for free with an antenna. You can find more info. Use the search box for 'antenna'. 

Aerial vs. Antenna

The words aerial and antenna are used interchangeably by almost everyone, except techies. Accurately speaking, the top or elevated portion of the antenna is the aerial, and that portion which completes the electrical connection between the aerial and the instruments is the lead-in. The antenna is the entire system consisting of the aerial and lead-in together.

TV No Tuner

For those of you who may wish to get an antenna and ditch cable, check the TV you have and the next one you buy. Some manufacturers have begun to eliminate the tuner in order to save costs.
A TV tuner is a device that converts digital over-the-air channels for viewing on compatible displays and TVs. If you get a TV without a tuner, you will need some kind of converter box, such as an HDTV Digital TV Converter box with HDMI output.  You can also get a DVR that will turn an antenna into HDMI cable. This way not only do you get OTA but a DVR to record your shows.

External TV tuners cost from fifteen US dollars up to multiple hundreds of dollars and can be as small as a USB stick up to the size of a cigar box. You can also buy a TV tuner card for a PC and turn it into a television.

CN Tower Facts

Back in June 1976 this tower solved a few problems for the people of Toronto, Canada. They had been having problems with their TV and radio reception. Interference from the many skyscrapers in the city were causing TV shows to be superimposed on top of each other.

To remedy the situation, the Canadian National Railway Company was commissioned to build an antenna that would tower over every building ever built. The antenna design turned into a tourist attraction design by John Andrews Architects and Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden Architects.

63 million dollars and 1,537 people were needed to complete the tallest free standing structure and building in the world (until 2007). The CN (Canadian National) Tower, including the 335 foot, steel broadcasting antenna, is 1,815 feet, 5 inches tall. At 1,465 feet, you can stand on the public observation Space Deck.

You can take one of six elevators to the Sky Pod level at a speed of 15 miles per hour, or you could climb the 1769 steps up the tower. There is also dining in the world’s highest and largest revolving restaurant, aptly named "360". I have been up there and the views are magnificent.

Sixteen Toronto TV and FM radio stations broadcast their signals from the antenna and all over Southern Ontario, Canada.