Free wireless TV is evolving thanks to new technology

We used to have NTSC. It has been the US broadcast standard for over half a century. In 2009 he was officially replaced by ATSC, aka HDTV. now ATSC itself It has been replaced in many markets by NextGen TV, formerly known as ATSC 3.0 (there was no 2.0).

NextGen TV offers a variety of new technologies, including the ability to broadcast 4K, HDR, and more. Due to this mechanism, you may get better reception if you are further away from the TV tower.

Here’s the short version: NextGen is free over-the-air TV, likely with more channels and better picture quality than older over-the-air broadcasts.

Most major cities, like many smaller cities, have NextGen TV stations, with more being rolled out each month. The move to NextGen is optional, but so far many broadcasters in most markets have embraced the change. Much of it has to do with the foundations laid during the digital transition to HDTV. Since everything is already digital, upgrading to NextGen is less expensive than switching from analog NTSC to digital ATSC (1.0). There are also new ways stations can make money, which certainly softens the blow.

You can see which stations are already active in your area at watchnextgentv.com/markets.

All you need is a NextGen tuner and an antenna. If you’re buying a new TV, many current models have a NextGen TV tuner built-in. This includes many models from LG, Sony, Hisense and Samsung. There are also some external tuners, though not as many as you might think – at least for now.

The antenna part is fairly easy. There are many inexpensive options. If you have an antenna from the HDTV era, it may work fine.

This is the ultimate question. What’s the value of free content if it’s not the content you want to watch? is. These aren’t the only channels you’ll find, but they will be core products in most areas.

However, the details are more complicated. Not all stations in your area have been converted to NextGen, but conveniently with an antenna and tuner you should be able to receive all “ATSC 1.0” (old HDTV) broadcasts . So somehow you should be able to get all the major stations wirelessly for free.

However, in many areas you can get much more information than those. Most stations operate multiple subchannels, which run different programming under the same “channel” banner. In addition, there are also smaller broadcasters with a wide variety of content. Will I be able to watch Stranger Things on air? Almost certainly, but The Masked Singer, Chicago PD, Grey’s Anatomy, and most major sports can all be watched over the air for free.

Some cities, such as Boise, Idaho, Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado, have Evoca, a kind of hybrid service that combines wireless with pay channels like the NFL network and Bloomberg. This is perfect for markets that don’t have many channel options and internet speeds are too slow to stream simultaneously. Once outside many cities, you may be surprised at how quickly internet speed and availability drop.

Nothing is really free, right? In this case, you pay by the time you watch an ad. Back in the day, before streaming, there was something called a DVR that recorded shows to your hard drive for later viewing. You can fast forward commercials. It was a thing. And it doesn’t matter if you’re paying for cable or satellite TV.

There are already some next-generation DVRs and some other tuners that can record to local or network hard drives. So if you don’t want to see 20 minutes of every hour guessing what prescription drugs do based on possible side effects, look for one of those.