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I stopped paying for cable about 6 months ago and I have to say I am very happy I did. I was always one of those people who thought cable was an absolute necessity and would always pay $100 or so to have 300 or so channels. Over time I realized that I was only watching a few channels here and there and a lot of what I was watching was through iTunes, Netflix, or Amazon Prime Video. Did I really need cable just for CNN, ESPN, and a few local channels?

Well, for some live TV events it's great: Oscars, news, etc., etc. However, I was able to watch all of that without my cable box! I didn't know until I read an article somewhere that there was such a thing as Over the Air (OTA) channels. These are all HD channels that are broadcast for free. This includes channels like ABS, CBS, NBC, Fox and many more. So I was very happy that I could watch pretty much everything I wanted without the cable box.

The only problems I had were with the program guide and recording shows! With the cable box gone, I had no DVR and no program guide. The other problem with antennas is that not all areas get all the local channels. Luckily, using an online DVR service solves all of these problems. Second, most of these services now include local channels in their packages, so you don't have to worry about antennas and a special hardware DVR.