Free digital television by antenna still exists in Montreal

Marking an anniversary
While folks like me have drifted towards Fibe TV, there are still those who watch the small screen with the assistance of a good old fashioned antenna. On Monday,  September 1  Kirkland’s John Lancer marked the third anniversary of Canada’s analog-to-digital transition. “Many enthusiasts such as myself mark this anniversary to show appreciation to local broadcasters and raise awareness of free digital television by antenna,” he says. “The benefits of good-old TV by antenna is  still completely legal, free and now in stunning digital HD quality, yet few people know about it!”

According to Lancer, the Montreal over-the-air (OTA) TV community has been progressively growing since the "DTV renaissance" of broadcast TV, especially on social media. “There is a very active and growing community forum on digitalhome.ca, where users share tips and help others find antennas that work best in their area,” he says. “There is even a Twitter account  dedicated to informing Montrealers of the status of local stations and providing other OTA news.”

John Lancer and his antenna.

Lancer points to new products that have come out making it easier for people to cut the cord from Bell and Videotron. For example, new PVR models are on the market that hook up directly to an antenna and provide nice program guides, allowing people to mesh antenna TV with on-demand streaming services. “You no longer need to pay big bucks or subscribe to pay TV just to record your favorite shows in HD,” he insists. “Although existing antennas still work with DTV signals, new digital antennas are much more compact, powerful and discrete. Rabbit ears have been replaced by paper-thin indoor antennas and an outdoor antenna the size of a barbeque grill  will bring in most if not all Montreal and US channels when mounted on a roof.”
 
“People think they have to pay for satellite or cable to get HD television when in fact a modest antenna can bring in most of the major broadcast networks,” Lancer continues. “Free over-the-air channel selection in Montreal has actually increased since 2009 and bit-by-bit more people are going back to antenna TV, and if desired, complementing this with streaming on-demand content such as Netflix over the internet. The people that are going for this more affordable alternative to cable TV are called  cordcutters.  This past year  new devices came out that allow you to add your coax antenna to your home WiFi network. This means you can turn a computer or laptop into a DVR, and watch live TV from your antenna on your mobile devices using downloadable apps or media programs. For example, I watch Jimmy Fallon in bed on my iPad, streamed directly from my antenna-not the internet - so there is no hit to my internet data caps.

Live sports will still be coming to Montreal via over-the-air as Roger's CityTV will be carrying two hockey games per weekend,  as well as NFL football, racing circuits, MLB and the NBA. “The best part of having an antenna for the NFL is getting the SuperBowl American feed directly from the Burlington stations with the  real  Superbowl commercials,” Lancer notes, who says Côte-St-Luc, NDG, Lachine and other areas of the West Island are goldmines for free TV. A modest antenna setup will  easily get 20 plus  channels, pulling in even the American networks from the US border such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, CREATE, PBS+, CW, MeTV and PBS World. All stations are digital and most in either 720p or 1080i HD. All of this is free once you've paid for your antenna setup.

I wish to thank John for this education.