Arweave TX
geekblogger
If you’re thinking about cutting the cord, your local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS stations are probably among your must-have channels.
The good news is that you can get local channels without a cable or satellite subscription.
But the bad news is that if you live in an area where you can’t pick up the major broadcast networks with an antenna, it’s probably going to cost you.
That explains the broadcast TV surcharge that you may have seen on your cable TV bill.
It also explains why Locast, a free streaming service that provided access to local stations, was sued by the major broadcast networks and had to shut down in late 2021.
What’s a cord cutter to do? In this article, I share the best ways to watch local channels without cable!
With so many new streaming services, it’s easy to forget about the network apps for ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.
But they do provide some free content to watch.
The main problem with these apps is that not everything is free. Lock icons indicate that you’ll need a pay-TV subscription (cable, satellite or live TV streaming service) to view certain programming.
One network app that I do really like is the PBS Video App. It’s free and a great way to stream your favorite programming from PBS.
You can get more content with PBS Passport for $5 a month.
If you just want to watch your local news, free apps like NewsON and Haystack News provide content from stations across the country.
But if you have a favorite local news source, I would start by visiting their website directly.
Most stations will let you watch newscasts live from a computer or your phone, and a growing number of stations are launching their own apps to stream to a TV set.
You can also get the headlines by subscribing to trusted news sources on YouTube.
Puffer is retransmitting the over-the-air broadcast TV signals from the San Francisco area as part of a research project for Stanford University.
After signing up, you can stream ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and the CW.
Since this is a research project and not a for-profit streaming service, there are limitations. For example, only 500 people nationwide can watch Puffer at any time.
A lot of people tell me they would be happy to pay $20 a month for a streaming service that only has their locals, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
The companies that own the major broadcast networks also control many cable channels.
So while paying for 100 channels when you only watch 10 of them doesn’t work for consumers, it does work for the major content companies that operate the channels we watch.