Antenna usage is up in the USA

Once upon a time, the way to watch TV was with an antenna. Then along came cable. And satellite. And now streaming.

The thing about streaming is that it plays well with antenna. Well, satellite does too, to a degree. Cable, not so much.

Cable essentially did away with the need for antenna, because cable systems carried the local channels. And cable was how many of us watched TV.

Satellite worked better with an antenna, because local channels weren't on satellite -- well, unless local was New York or Los Angeles.

With streaming, there is the option to watch locals from some live streaming services, but a streamer can save money with a cheaper service if local channels are available via antenna.

Even people who don't stream can watch a lot of content with an antenna, and may find that there is a lot to watch over the air.

According to Neilsen, the number of people watching TV over the air has continued to increase, and is 18.6 million households, abut 15% of the country.

Now, 15% is a lot less than nearly 100%, as it used to be before cable, but it's an increase over a year ago, and up from 10% a decade ago. That goes along with a drop in cable subscribers.

While over-the-air homes have grown, the share of homes with cable, satellite or telco pay-TV services -- what Nielsen calls Cable Plus has shrunk to 57% in the fourth quarter from 76% in 2018. Broadband only homes increase to 27% from 9% over the same interval.

I've been happy with my antenna, and continue to use it. For me, I don't subscribe to a live streaming service, as I can find enough live TV from my antenna or from free services with my streaming device.

If you don't have an antenna supplementing your Streaming Life, it may be worth considering.

Roku "What to Watch" finally debuts

When Roku announced OS 11 a little over a month ago, they mentioned some features that would "roll out in the coming weeks."

Many people -- I'd say most people -- took this to mean that Roku OS 11 would roll out soon and would include the listed features. Only, that's not what it meant.

What happened was that OS 11 began rolling out -- one of my Roku devices updated the same day as the announcement, another a week or so ago, another this week, and others soon, I expect -- but the rollout did not have the features mentioned.

I asked Roku about that and was told that the features would be rolling out separately. That would have been good to know. Well, now the features have arrived. Well, the feature, not features. Because there is only one visible on the Roku screen. And that's the "What to Watch" function.

The Roku Blog listed two features that would show on the Home Screen. Only one of them, Live TV, had actually rolled out with 10.5 some time earlier. What to Watch was new for OS 11.

What to Watch on Home Screen Menu –What to Watch is a new destination added to the Home Screen Menu, leading to movies and TV shows from a variety of streaming channels, including those you most frequently interact with. What to Watch provides easy access to a personalized selection of new titles that were recently added, recommendations for users based on popular and trending content, and so much more.

After more than a month, it finally showed up this weekend on my Roku devices. At least, the devices with OS 11 running.

What to Watch has content from various apps I have installed, which I like. And from apps I don't have, which I don't like.

I actually thought at first that Roku was only listing content from apps I had installed. The first few categories I checked -- Popular for You, Trending Now, Sitcoms -- all had content from app I had installed, and only from apps I had installed. That was something I liked. Sure, I have apps installed that don't have an active subscription, but at least limiting the content to apps I have was a good thing.

Except that's not really what's going on. When I got down to Suspense, some content was from apps I didn't have. Well, one item. And on some other categories as well. Digging down I found that most of the content offered that wasn't on apps I had installed were available on Roku Channel via subscription. But not all. There was some content suggested that weren't part of Roku Channel in any way, and were only available in apps I didn't have installed. Specifically, it listed Kolchak: The Night Stalker for me to watch, offering a service I'm not using or have an app installed.

That's disappointing. I understand the desire to push content that requires a subscription, or even to install other apps that don't require a subscription (Kolchak was free on the app that I don't have, ). But I prefer to only see content to which I actually have access.

The new Plex Discover feature connects to my other apps, but also offers content that is outside of those parameters. However, those items are on a separate listing, and not mixed in with other content. I prefer that approach.

Still, it's an overall improvement for Roku, though one I won't use a lot. But it's good to know it's there if I do want to try it. If you're a Roku user, check it out. That is, if Roku OS 11 has worked its way into your Streaming Life.

Going to the movies

I used to go to the movies a lot. When I worked in Jacksonville back in the 1980s, I would go at least once a week to Orange Park, just south of Jacksonville, and go to the movies. There were theaters in Jacksonville, of course, but at Orange Park, there were three theaters, and around 15 different movies playing, within a couple of blocks of each other, meaning I could find something to watch.

Over the years, I stopped doing that, and now rarely go out to the movies. The last couple of years haven't really had that much of an impact on me, as the movie experience isn't what it used to be. I can watch a movie on my big screen TV in the comfort of my own home. If I have to step to the bathroom, I can pause the movie and miss not one minute. Watching movies at home is a more comfortable experience.

However, I do miss going to the movies. Locally, there's a theater with a very nice setup, where I can sit in a recliner and have snacks and drinks brought to me. It's nice. And, being in Georgia, we've been acting normal for some time. Going to the movies is, and has been, a thing nearly the whole time. I haven't gone, but that's only because there's not been anything I wanted to watch.

There are areas where theaters haven't been open, or local ordinances or decrees have made going to the movies difficult. That's true in Georgia as well, though normally in larger cities. But that's changing. And, not just here, but everywhere it seems.

Fandango released a survey recently that shows 19 out of 20 people in the USA plan to see multiple movies in theaters this summer, according to USA Today.

Now that moviegoers are returning, it doesn’t seem like they’re going anywhere: According to the survey, 96% of ticket buyers plan to see multiple movies in theaters this summer (64% specify they will see five or more). And even though some major movies, like this weekend's "Cruella," are releasing theatrically and on streaming services the same day, 87% say the moviegoing experience can’t be duplicated at home.

None of the top ten movies in the report are movies I have any interest in seeing, but lots of people will want to see them. I'm glad they'll have the opportunity. I've had the opportunity for some time, but haven't gone just to go. There's nothing I want to see.

But, if something I want to see does hit theaters, I'll be there. Until then, I'll be sitting at home, enjoying my Streaming Life.

Triple Crown on Peacock

It's a little early for this, as the Kentucky Derby isn't for a couple of weeks. Still, if you're a fan of thoroughbred racing, or just someone who watches certain races, it may be time to start planning how you're going to watch.

NBC has the Triple Crown races again, as is normal, and will broadcast the races. If you have an antenna, you can watch your local NBC affiliate and see the races.

This year, though, those three races are also being carried by Peacock. Subscribers to the Premium plan will be able to stream the races.

And, of course, this is an opportunity for me to show my favorite horse racing video. I watched it live when it happened in 1973.

It's not likely that we'll see anything like that this year, but you never know. Secretariat's Triple Crown races were all record time wins, and the record still holds.

If you want to watch this year's races streaming, Peacock has you covered. You can have the Triple Crown racing in your Streaming Life.

CNN+ we hardly knew ye

Yesterday, I wrote about CNN+ and how it wasn't really necessary to me. I didn't find out until later Thursday that CNN had announced that the platform was shutting down.

I'm not really surprised to learn that. Rumors began almost as soon as it launched that the platform was a bust. I wanted to wait and see how things really shook out, and it turns out that the rumors were right.

As you would expect, CNN is putting a bit of a spin on it. They're not admitting a failure, but rather taking the approach that the new management want's everything under a single brand.

The prior management team's vision for CNN+ runs counter to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's plan to house all of the company's brands under one streaming service. Some CNN+ programming may eventually live on through that service. Other programming will shift to CNN's main television network.

And while there will be layoffs, the severance package isn't too bad.

Hundreds of CNN+ staffers may lose their jobs. Licht said in an internal memo that "all CNN+ employees will continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days to explore opportunities at CNN, CNN Digital and elsewhere in the Warner Bros. Discovery family."

Staffers who aren't absorbed elsewhere in the company will receive a minimum of six months of severance, he added.

So, now what? What do you do if you want to watch TV news?

Well, like I said yesterday, there are a shipload of options, free options, available. If you want to watch news on your streaming device, just look at the menu. Or, in case of a Roku, go to the Roku Channel or the Channel Store. It's easy to have news as a part of your Streaming Life. And the shutdown of CNN+ won't make much of dent.

Streaming the news

I posted recently about CNN+ finally launching, and then arriving on Roku three weeks later. If I came across as not really excited about it, there's a reason. I'm not really excited about it. TV news channels were one of the last things holding me back from cutting cable back in 2011. And after a week of not watching TV news, I came to like not watching TV news. Oh, I still stay up on things, but I don't need the commentary from the talking heads telling me what to think. I can find the facts online. I subscribe to Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, and will rotate around dropping those and picking up New York Times, and so on. That's just the subscription, to get the entire Website content for those. But I also read other news Websites and stay informed from a variety of sources.

But, if I do want to watch TV news, I have options. In addition to CNN+, which is a subscription service, I also have access to a lot of other news sources. Clicking on my Fire TV device just now, I see news apps and streams from ABC News, CBS News, Fox Live Now, Newsmax TV, USA Today, Bloomberg TV, Reuters Now, Cheddar News, Newsy, i24 News, and more.

Switching to Roku, most of those are easy to find, as well as NBC News Now, Sky News, Haystack News, Stirr, Local Now, Real America's Voice, CNBC, OAN, and a bunch of local TV news apps.

I won't go on and on, because what I've listed so far are some news apps and services that I found without even doing any heavy searching. These are the easy to find ones. There are more.

In addition to this, if you have or put up an antenna, you may be able to get local TV news from your local stations. It's really easy to add TV news to your Streaming Life.

IMDB TV no more

Have you ever made a silly decision? A stupid decision? A really bad decision?

Have you ever wanted to take it back?

Have you ever thought of something so clever that you came up with and then told everybody and they just looked at you like you had lobsters crawling out of your ears? (Bonus points if  you get the reference.)

Well, that's what Amazon is going through. Or should be going through. They may be still in the phase where they don't realize what a silly thing they've done.

Amazon has rebranded IMDB TV as Freevee.

IMDb TV will rebrand to Amazon Freevee, beginning April 27, in addition to growing its content lineup to include Original movies and expanding internationally into Germany later this year.

The ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service has grown immensely in the last two years—tripling monthly active users—driven by rapid distribution across living room devices and mobile, an increasing slate of Originals, an always updating library of highly sought movies and TV shows, and over 60 FAST channels.

Yes, I checked the date on the news release. It was April 13th, not April Fools Day. This is for real.

That's a really silly name. They could have gone with Prime Video Free. Or Prime Video with Special Offers -- to copy the name they gave ad-supported Kindle devices. Or just about anything. Heck, IMDB TV was actually a good name. They bought MGM so MGM TV would have been good.

Freevee is just kinda silly.

I'm not really getting all worked up over it. I'm just pointing and laughing. It's silly. I don't know if it's to the point of taking the app off my devices because the name is just too silly, but that's a possibility. I refused to upgrade my TiVo to the Bolt because of how stupid the device looked. So, yeah, removing the app is something I'd do.

I want to enjoy my Streaming Life, not cringe when I open an app.