It’s good to be right. For years this blog and others have been talking about the strong demand for free, over-the-air TV. We’ve watched as most of the news focused on the streaming side of cord-cutting, and even worse we’ve watched as DISH and DIRECTV cut antenna support for their DVRs. It seems that there’s a lot more interest in antennas than some people though.
DISH stated in several accounts that demand for its new AirTV player is so strong that they’re overwhelmed. At Solid Signal, we know that we’ll be selling it too, but there’s no inventory to sell yet.
The excitement certainly feels good. I think this little box is going to take people by storm and it’s going to bring forth a new golden era of antennas, where free over-the-air TV is a much stronger part of the viewing experience. I know that both Sling TV and DIRECTV NOW are doing well, and offer a lot of channels that aren’t available locally, but there’s clearly a massive demand for over-the-air TV that isn’t being satisfied. People want their locals. All of the top rated shows are on local TV, and people want to watch them live. Hulu and those other services are great and I use them too, but some stuff you just have to watch live. Maybe that will change in the future but for now, live TV is still king.
If you’re excited about AirTV, I’m right there with you. I know our partners at DISH are scrambling to add manufacturing capacity so that they can satisfy the mushrooming demand for AirTV and the AirTV over-the-air adapter. I also know that there’s a lot of interest in this technology right now from a number of high-profile manufacturers. One of them showed a Wi-Fi-enabled antenna at the CES show.
It certainly seems like there’s never been a better time to be an antenna enthusiast. If you’re looking to cut the cord, get all your local channels for free and pay nothing else, ever… well you’ll have to wait for the AirTV for a little while but there are some excellent solutions that you can pick up now:
This MyGica box gives you live TV on any Windows computer complete with DVR.
This Channel Master box adds the ability to pause live TV and some limited recording ability to any TV.
This HDHomeRun box lets you stream live TV to any PC or, with an additional app, any Apple device.
And of course, you have your pick of antennas and accessories from Solid Signal, and you can even get a free recommendation for the antenna that’s the best. Of course we’ll be adding the AirTV to inventory as soon as it’s available but that doesn’t stop you from getting the antenna you need, today.
