I'm having doubts about cutting cable's cord

Second in a series. On Saturday, I let AT&T bill me for another month of U-verse service, even as I try to switch to over-the-air broadcasts and Internet streaming. To be honest, cutting cable's cord is more difficult than I anticipated.

Key points in this post: 1) I don't get OTA reception with antenna attached to Tivo. 2) I do get nearly a dozen stations clearly with antenna attached to TV. 3) TiVo, which was supposed to be the hub to OTA/streaming, has proved incapable. 4) There are more local channels available OTA than are typically carried on cable/IPTV.

Antenna to TV

I started the switchover from the perspective of the typical consumer, who presumably had done some research but largely moved forward assuming OTA and streaming would be easy. The plan was to write about the OTA/streaming experience over several months, something that may still come to pass; fingers crossed.

As I explained a week ago, my setup process proved to be somewhat arduous, and I ended it with streaming ready but no viewable OTA broadcasts. The TiVo Premiere box is the problem, one of many.

Last week, Antennas Direct suggested attaching its Clearstream Micron XG antenna directly to the family's aging big-screen Vizio TV -- something I planned to do anyway. I let the 43-inch LCD television scan for channels -- 25 in all, six analog. Among these, 11 are watchable. I assume the analog broadcasts are coming from Mexico. By comparison, TiVo Premiere detects more channels but generates no video or audio on any of them, except in signal diagnostic mode.

I did a second scan after attaching the antenna's powered amplifier, which found fewer channels -- 22. Following the second scan, I stumbled upon 70's show "The Partridge Family" on 69.2, KSWB. The local Fox affiliate also broadcasts on 5; 69.2 is something called "Antenna TV". A wave of nostalgia briefly overwhelmed at the sight of the Partridges. I remember my sisters watching the TV show back during my teen years. I jealously looked on life in California, where Keith Partridge and friends would go down to the local taco stand. We didn't have taco stands in Northern Maine, perpetual sun or open-air schools. Now I live in Southern California to be close to family. But the nostalgia passed, as the overly-simple plot and stilted acting settled in.

Location, Location

KSWB broadcasts three channels that I could receive. Cable tetherers don't understand perhaps that the local channels they get really represents a paltry selection in the digital, HDTV age. By my count, there are 28 broadcast channels available in the San Diego area (not including those from Mexico). U-verse carries less than half of them. You might not even have that many to choose from.

In my Maine hometown during the 1970s, there was only one available commercial broadcast station, WAGM, which served Aroostook County -- a vast area of woodlands and farms making up one-fifth of the state. WAGM had the unique distinction of being the only broadcast station in the country permitted to be multiple network affiliates -- ABC, CBS and NBC. The program director chose which shows from which network would air. I would see commercials advertising some exciting episode of program X that the station didn't carry. PBS brought a second station around 1970 through the University of Maine system. But the best programming came from the local CBC station located in New Brunswick.

OTA wouldn't be much better option today. WAGM broadcasts two digital channels, for CBS and Fox. PBS station WMEB has three. However, there are more Canadian stations to choose from than when I was there. I'd probably choose cable or satellite if living in The County today -- Canadian satellite if available. The point: If TV networks matter, location means that OTA won't be an option for everyone. Proximity to broadcast stations is first consideration. Physical location in relationship to available broadcast towers is another.

The latter is where my OTA ambitions may run aground. According to Antenna Web, about 20 stations should be attainable from my second-story apartment. That's about right, following the Vizio TV's scan. However, the antenna isn't near a window, although it's line of sight to the best window. The building where I live is boxed in by other apartment structures. Most people in my building complain they can't get good or any cellular reception in their apartments, regardless of carrier. We do and best when lined up with the dining room window that is line of sight from the Micron XG antenna. Should that affect digital signals?

All the channels clearly received are on a compass heading of 96 degrees, at least that's where Antenna Web places them. That includes 51.1, KBNT, which Antenna Web indicates should need a larger antenna. I've fiddled around with Micron XG's orientation, but that changes nothing. Perhaps more channels would be attainable from a different location in the apartment.

By the way, I'd guess that most of the broadcasts are 720p at best, although 39.1, KNSB, broadcast sports events that surely looked at least 1080i to me on Sunday afternoon.

TiVo Fail

At this point in my testing, I'm perplexed by circumstances. TiVo Premiere isn't working well for antenna reception -- well, not at all. The whole point is having a DVR to record programs or have the ability to pause and rewind live broadcasts.

Streaming-only is an alternative, but to my surprise not using TiVo as I had planned. On paper the box seems to have all the right stuff -- Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster (which I don't use), Hulu Plus and Netflix. Last week I rented "Source Code" from Amazon Instant Video for my daughter and friend to watch. OMG, Amazon HD video on TiVo is 1080i. The video was stunning and the audio so clear it was like being there -- and that's through the TV speakers. I don't have surround sound (Hey, I'm an apartment dweller; neighbors would complain). By comparison, Apple TV delivers 720p, which seemed acceptable before but not anymore. The viewing experience is exceptionally better.

However, the renting experience is not. Finding videos using TiVo is cumbersome. It's a user-interface problem, which is ironic in a way. TiVo's program guide concept brought TV content recording to the masses. The idea of time shifting isn't new and at least goes back to VHS recorders. But the UI was clunky. Setting up a VHS machine to record was difficult for most people I knew trying to do so in the 1990s. Then there was the problem of sequential searching to find the right program on the tape or the right place in the show. TiVo changed all that by making recording easy, accessing shows simple and allowing the pausing or rewinding of live broadcasts. So I was surprised to see a use-interface trendsetter being a laggard.

Yesterday, my 89 year-old father-in-law came by to watch a movie. It took 30 minutes of searching for stuff I could have found in minutes on Apple TV or Google TV. Amazon Instant Video search didn't work that well for me, and I found that there weren't enough subcategories to chose from when exploring. The problem is partly Amazon's for not offering major categories, like "Classics". Netflix was way worse. Unlike Apple TV or Google TV, TiVo can't access Netflix's vast library. The user has to search on a computer and put movies or TV shows in the Instant Queue to watch on TiVo. Frak that.

The whole point of streaming is for it to be easy enough to replace live or recorded programming. I also found the Hulu experience to be more limited than expected, but I'll save that for a follow-up post. I've got lots to express about the Hulu experience and much of it unexpected.

Meanwhile U-verse beckons. Somewhere in every Godfather movie there is an analogy or quote appropriate for most any situation. For me, it's the classic and oft-quoted Michael Corleone saying, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in". Something happened to U-verse last week. The service suddenly got a whole lot better. One day, the program guide changed ever-so-slightly here, there and everywhere. HD suddenly pops, with more detail and contrast. U-verse offers so many HD channels that except for BBC America we watch nothing else. Other than writing this series, cutting cable's cord is looking to be much harder. U-verse is pulling me back in.