Selecting Live TV channels for Amazon Fire TV

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I liked the On Now section of Amazon Fire TV. They call the section "On Now" and it includes a Live TV Guide.

If you're like me, you have multiple free live streaming services. Among the ones I have are Pluto TV, Xumo, Plex (which I use for local streaming as well as live TV), FreeVee (formerly IMDB TV), Sling TV (which has a free tier that doesn't get enough promotion), and Tubi TV. I have others on my Roku device, but that's all I have on my Fire TV, as those are the ones I use the most.

Fire TV will work with your live streaming apps/services and let you pick which ones you want to include in your Live TV Guide. In fact, it's better than that. It lets you pick the channels you want from each service. You can pick all of them, or you can pick a few, or all but a few.

It didn't take me long to realize that simply turning on access to those six apps put a lot of live streaming channels in the guide. More than I wanted to deal with. That's one of the drawbacks of these large live streaming services. If you don't want to watch a hundred or more streams, then you have to wade through a lot. Fire TV has solved that problem. At least, what's a problem for me.

If you only want to watch live content from one service, it's not that big of a deal. Add that service, hide the others, and you're set. But, I like content from each of them. Well, from most of them. But only a few from each.

The way I handle that is to hide all the apps/services, then unhide certain channels, only the channels I want. Then I pick my absolute favorites and Favorite them. It's actually easy to do.

First, you go into the Settings section and select Live TV.

Then you go into the Manage Channels area.

From there, hide all the Sources. Then, go into a Source that has channels you want to include in the Live TV Guide.

Next, find a channel you want to include and unhide/show it.

Repeat that for each Source that has content you want to include, and for each channel you want within each Source.

Again, if you want everything, simply unhide the Source. If you want almost everything, unhide the Source, then hide the channels to remove.

Since I only want a handful from each, I hide the Source, then unhide the specific channels I want.

There's also a section for Favorites. Going into that lets you select Favorite channels.

Those Favorites will appear at the top of your Live TV Guide.

The Live TV Guide and the ability to configure the Sources and individual channels within them is one of my favorite features of the Fire TV devices. It makes my Streaming Live easier.

Don't get me wrong about YouTube TV...

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I didn't need YouTube TV because it didn't bring enough to the table. That may sound a little harsh. But the truth is, I'm not going to get $65 worth of entertainment from it. Well, at least, most months.

As you may know -- and if you don't, you're about to find out -- the only time I really feel that I "need" a live TV streaming service is during college football season. But the rest of the year, no, I don't really need any such service.

That's not to say that YouTube TV doesn't bring anything to the table. It does. In fact, I consider it the best of the live streaming services. I just don't need one. But you might. I think you should put some serious research and thought into whether or not you need one, but if you have and concluded you need one, or even if you haven't but just want one anyway, then I think that YouTube TV is an excellent choice.

YouTube TV is the best priced of the premium live streaming services. Let me explain what I mean by that.

These cable alternatives come in a couple of flavors. Some have local channels, and some don't. Some have sports programming and some don't.

With neither locals nor sports are the budget services such as Frndly.TV and Philo. Those are $7 and $25 respectively. If you don't need or care about local channels or sports, these are the ones to look at. There is some overlap, but compare the packages and see which works better for you.

If you don't need locals but do want sports, there are Sling TV and Vidgo. I should note that Vidgo does have ABC and Fox, but none of the other local channels. Still, I'm including it in the mid-tier group. Sling TV and Vidgo run from $35 to $55 respectively.

If you want locals and sports, in addition to the other cable type of programming, you have YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, and DirecTV Stream. They run $65, $70, and $70 respectively.

As you can see, YouTube TV is a top tier service, with a lot of programming, including sports and local channels. It works well. Very well. The Google infrastructure behind it is probably the most trouble free of any service. It's the cheapest of the top tier packages, and my pick if I was to choose one of these.

I know it sounds like I'm Friend Zoning the service: I like you, just not that way. But it's the truth. And if I were to go that way, it's one that's at the top of my list.

I don't need a service like that. I'm able to find the content I want a lot cheaper, with an antenna and watching on-demand rather than live. But you aren't me. If you need a top tier live streaming cable alternative, YouTube TV is a good choice to drive your Streaming Life.

Can you put up an antenna?

If you want to cut the cord, or watch free local channels, an antenna is a good way to get you free local content. But can you put up an antenna?

Maybe you can. Maybe you can't. Let's find out.

A few things to keep in mind. You may be able to use an indoor antenna, if you live close enough to a TV tower. If not, you may be able to pick up stations on an outdoor antenna. And, then you need to get the right kind of antenna. That may not mean what you think. We'll come back to this.

First, are there stations close enough to pick up? And if so, will an indoor antenna work?

I like to go to AntennaWeb.Org to check. There are other places you can use, but that's been a good one for me.

Location, location, location

Put in the address you want, then either check or don't check the box regarding antenna height.

Then press GO and look at the results. Look at the results and see what antenna it recommends. 

In or out?

If the station is close enough, an indoor antenna may work. In my experience, within 10 miles usually means you'll pick up the station, if the antenna is the right type (we'll talk about that in a little bit).

If an indoor won't cut it, then an outdoor antenna may be needed. And that's a good time to take a break. And think.

If you think an indoor antenna will do the job, get one. Just make sure you can return it. They're fairly cheap, but if it won't do the job, make sure you can take it back. And, with that in mind, be careful when opening the box and using the parts. Don't tear anything up. Be good and be careful. And if it works, yay! But if not, take it back and think about getting an outdoor antenna.

If you need an outdoor antenna, first think of where you'll put it. And how high you can put it.

If you want to do it yourself, keep powerlines in mind. After all, our goal is free TV viewing, not a casket viewing. If you can't put an antenna up safely yourself, hire a professional, or do without. It's not worth the risk.

With that out of the say, if you can put up an outdoor antenna, get one that will pick up the stations you want.

HDTV, UHF, VHF, alphabet soup

First, there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. They're TV antennae. That's all. Which means that all TV antennae are HDTV antennae. Or, more simply, a TV antenna is a TV antenna.

Only it's not quite that simple. There is an actual difference in antennae, but it's got nothing to do with HDTV. Rather, it's the channel.

Channels 1-6 are Low VHF. Channels 7-13 are High VHF. And channels 14 and up are UHF. So, which do you need? Well, look at the channels, right?

Not always. In that results image above, notice WSAV channel 3. That's Low VHF, right? Nope. Notice the RF Channel shows as 16. That means it's actually broadcasting on channel 16, so a UHF antenna is needed. Sane with WTOC channel 11. It's actually on channel 23 now. And look at the PBS station. WVAN channel 9 is on channel 8, so that's High VHF.

Confusing? Sure. But look at the RF Channel, which is the actual channel on which the station is broadcasting. That's what's important.

Confused yet?

If this is all confusing, you can actually pay people to do an analysis and recommendation for you. While I did my own research, and got my own results, I decided to compare against Tyler the Antenna Man, who runs a YouTube channel out of Pennsylvania. It was around $40, and he suggested an antenna and an installer. The downside is the installer he found for me was nearly an hour away, meaning it would cost a bit more to use that one. But, if you don't have a local installer you know about, then he at least will pick out a good one. Tyler does seem to know his stuff.

But do try it yourself first. If you're not sure, and $40 (it may be more now) would make you feel better, reach out to Tyler. Either way, check out his videos if you're thinking of an antenna. He has some great tips, and may save you some aggravation in the process.

If you don't really care about streaming, but just want to watch local channels, you may not need cable. An antenna might get you just what you need. And if you want to save money for local channels in your Streaming Life, then an antenna might help with that.

Trying YouTube TV again

A month ago, I decided to try YouTube TV again. So I subscribed.

How did that go? Not too good.

Almost every night after work, I came in, sat down, fired up the Roku device, and went right past the YouTube TV icon on the Roku menu. Same for when I fired up the Fire TV Stick or the Nvidia Shield.

Why? I mean, I paid $65 to Google to use YouTube TV for a month. So why didn't I use it?

Well, I did. Twice. No, three times. I watched some USFL games, but that was is. Nothing else.

Why not?

That's easy. There was nothing I wanted to see. I get local channels via antenna, with DVR from Tablo. That takes care of one of the things services such as YouTube TV offer. I can watch more local channels without YouTube TV than with.

Sure, there's Better Call Saul, right? Well, I bought the season, so I get the shows early the next morning anyway. And I don't have to watch live to find out if Lalo is targeting Jimmy and Kim. That can wait a few hours.

So, with live local channels not needed, and serial TV shows that I like not needed, what do I need it for?

Exactly. Which is why I won't be subscribing again. Well, not for a while. I'll consider it during football season, in order to get live ESPN, but until then? I'm fine.

I'm not saying YouTube TV isn't a good service. I'm saying I don't need to spend $65 for what it brings to my Streaming Life each month.