One day it dawned on us – cable TV wasn’t worth the money! We hardly ever watched cable channels. We used our television primarily as a way to view movies that we streamed from Netflix and Amazon Prime, or rented from Redbox. Still, there were all those “what if” questions: What if we wanted to watch the big game and couldn’t get the local channels? What if we just Had to watch something that was only available on cable? What if….! What if….! What if….!

We are so tied to our modern conveniences, that the thought of being without them is worse than the act itself. Fortunately, I had the example of a friend who had “cut the cord” months before. And Lived! I questioned her extensively – how did they get TV channels now? What were they watching?

Turns out it’s much easier to make the transition than I imagined. Our first step was to purchase an indoor antenna for our TV so we could get any free over-the-air channels within reach. After extensive research, we decided on an antenna. The one we chose was a Mohu Leaf 30 Indoor HDTV Antenna. We purchased ours from Best Buy, but Amazon also sells these and many other antennas. Our antenna has a 30-mile range which is generally adequate for most homes.

Hook up is pretty simple. Follow the directions for attaching it to your TV, then determine where the best wall location is for your antenna. Once we got all that done, we checked out the channel selection and were pleased to find that we had quite a list—and all for Free!

If you have a Roku or some other method you have been using to stream Netflix, here’s something to be aware of: you can use that same device to get some additional Free channels! Here’s how we did it on our Roku:

From your (Roku) home screen, scroll down to “Search” and hit enter

Then select “Streaming Channels”; hit enter

The next screen gives you options like “Featured”, “New & Notable”, “Most Popular”, “Top Free” and “Search Channels.” It also lists by genre. Explore the options – you’ll be surprised at home many there are! (I know we were!)

A quick internet search of “free Roku channels 2020” or “free TV channels 2020” generates a lot of information, if you want to research further.

 

Have you “dumped the dish”? Send us your story and we may use your experience in upcoming issues.