3 ways to get shows you might have lost but can't live without

In light of the disagreement between local Fox affiliate KFXO and BendBroadband over the right to rebroadcast local and network programming, it’s important to remember that cable isn’t the only way for Central Oregonians to track down their favorite TV shows.

Be it with satellite, antenna or a high-powered Internet connection, watching those football games, popular dramas and sitcoms is doable, with the right tools.

Alan Valenti, owner of The Electronics Shop in Bend, said local stations’ move from analog to digital means watching TV with rabbit ears is a much more fulfilling experience than it was years ago. “What they’ve done with digital does seem to work darn good in Bend, and the picture quality is phenomenal,” Valenti said. “It’s better than cable or satellite if it’s working properly and you’ve got a good antenna; the reception works really, really well and the picture quality is the best.”

All local stations in Bend — Fox, ABC, NBC and a few other local affiliates — have switched to the digital feed. If you can see Awbrey Butte, Valenti said, you’re going to get great reception. If not, you may not get a digital feed, and you may need to put up a roof antenna to get the signals.

Indoor antennas can be found for as cheap as $10, while outdoor antennas for rooftops can be more expensive — up to $200. They’re sold in the electronics section. On Wednesday, representatives at Radio Shack and Shopko said there were still antennas in stock, but they were going quickly.

And yes, Valenti admitted, there are a couple disadvantages to having the standard antenna television without cable or satellite.

“No ones comes to hook it up for free,” he said. “You’re going to either have to get educated and do it yourself or pay somebody from one of the local shops to come set it up for you.”

Just setting up rabbit ears on top of one television won’t be much of a challenge; getting five televisions in five rooms wired through the house and to an antenna on the roof can be.

“Once that’s done, though, it’s free,” Valenti said. “There’s no subscription, but you will get those channels for free. … (But) you’re not going to get everything.”

Which is why Valenti said a popular option is using an antenna for local channels, then coupling that with a basic satellite package.

“Most avid television watchers would have digital over-the-air channels plus some sort of satellite package, and those can start at $20,” Valenti said.

Becky Cooley, who works at Juniper Satellite in Redmond, said going to satellite feeds is popular, especially for those on the outskirts of town. Satellite service through DirecTV, for example, has packages ranging from 45 channels for about $30 to more than 265 channels for just over $80 per month.

She said those who call her to switch to satellite television often say they’re tired of lengthy cable outages.

“When satellite goes out, it’s out for maybe an hour,” Cooley said.

And she said many make the change to satellite in hopes of an easier customer-service relationship. Getting a basic satellite service, she said, can run as low as $30 to $40 per month, and people with those services can also continue receiving the local channels with an antenna.

Subscribers in other areas, like Crook or Jefferson counties, can get local channels with a $5 fee with satellite TV, Cooley said.

For those who are willing to think outside the television box a bit more, a high-speed Internet connection can get most television shows and movies often for much less than the cost of cable or satellite service.

Once a television fan has that Internet connection and the required pieces of equipment for the computer, a good place to start is Netflix. The online entertainment subscription service allows subscribers access to more than 100,000 DVD titles. It also has more than 12,000 titles that can be watched instantly on a subscriber’s computer. The company allows subscribers to choose from plans starting at about $5 per month.

Beyond Netflix, the more adventurous can also head to iTunes, where plenty of television shows and movies are available for purchase to watch on personal computers or iPods. Web sites for various television channels, from ABC to TBS, offer streaming episodes of shows. And another site, www .hulu.com, provides registered users with free access to a wide variety of clips, television shows and movies, including some older shows or hard-to-find releases.

How to watch programming without cable

Use rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna to tune into digital (channels 39.1 and 21.3 in Bend) or analog signals (channel 39 in Bend) that are broadcast over the air. Keep in mind that after Feb. 17, analog broadcasts in Bend will cease and you’ll need a digital converter box to continue watching over-the-air channels on TVs that don’t have built-in digital tuners.

Subscribe to a satellite TV provider such as DirecTV or Dish Network. Local programming is not carried by these satellite providers, but you can still receive the broadcasts over-the-air.

Use online video services such as Hulu.com or even Fox’s own Web site to stream whole episodes to your computer. Netflix subscribers can watch many old and new episodes online, and online marketplaces such as Amazon and iTunes allow users to purchase and download videos, which can be watched on a computer or, in some cases, through your television using a device such as TiVo or AppleTV.

— Andy Zeigert, The Bulletin