Boise, Idaho.
Timnewman1When it comes to getting TV channels you can either pay a service or get them free. Cable, satellite and live TV streaming services offer hundreds of channels including HBO, FX and Cartoon Network. Depending on how many channels you want and where you live, however, you'll have to pay money each month. The alternative is free TV, either from an ad-supported streaming service or, if you want a major channel like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS, from an over-the-air broadcast. All you need is an antenna and a TV tuner that might be built into the TV already. (Note that ViacomCBS is the parent company of CNET).
But what if there were a way to combine these? What if you want your Westworld but not the massive cable bill that goes with it? What if -- and this is key -- you live in an area with mediocre and expensive broadband internet, so streaming isn't a good option for TV? This is the case for many smaller cities and rural areas across the US.
One company in Boise, Idaho, has a potential solution. Its new Evoca service takes advantage of the new technologies rolling out with Next Gen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, to offer pay TV channels broadcast over the air. Evoca rolls out this summer starting in Boise. Here's how it's going to work.
Watch this: Free 4K TV for your home is coming soon
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What's Next Gen TV?
Beginning this year, many stations across the US will start broadcasting Next Gen TV, formerly known as ATSC 3.0. It's a huge leap forward in tech compared with the current ATSC 2.0 broadcast standard for HDTV -- almost big as the leap from fuzzy analog TV signals to HDTV itself.
The headline features for Next Gen TV are 4K resolution, HDR and potentially higher frame rates. We might eventually get the ability to watch live broadcast TV on phones and tablets too.
Read more: Next Gen TV is free 4K TV with an antenna, and it's coming to TVs this year.
Enter Evoca
One of Next Gen TV's more obscure but important features is the fact that it's IP-based. That means it's kind of like streaming video, just sent over the air instead of via wires. With Next Gen TV it will be easier to send broadcast video to various devices around your house.
Many Americans live in big cities with access to fast home Internet, numerous broadcast stations and multiple TV providers. But in smaller cities not only are there fewer local broadcasters, but the "high-speed" Internet could be slow or have data caps. Both of these things mean that "cutting the cord" by giving up an overpriced cable service isn't easy. Over-the-air content might be limited, and streaming TV either doesn't work or costs too much money (or both).
With its Evoca service, Edge Networks wants to be like other pay TV providers, offering a slate of channels for a monthly fee. Instead of running wires to your house, however, it'll use Next Gen TV's tech to broadcast those same channels over the air.
This sadly doesn't mean that everyone in Boise with a Next Gen TV-capable television will have free HBO. Edge Networks customers get a special tuner box, similar to a cable box, that decodes the broadcast. The difference being that the "last mile" from the provider to the house is the airwaves.
In addition to the Evoca tuner box, all a potential customer needs to get started is an antenna and an Internet connection (and it can be a slow one) for downloading optional video-on-demand content. The box will give a single point of access, functioning as a tuner for Next Gen TV and other local broadcast channels, plus the various cable channels and specific video-on-demand content.
You can get an indoor antenna for as little as $20, and they'll work fine with Next Gen TV.
Sarah Tew/CNETUnder $50 per month, no fast Internet required
Edge Networks is hoping to offer over 80 channels of sports, news and other entertainment for less than $50 a month, in HD or potentially 4K as well. By way of comparison, CNET's favorite live TV streaming service, YouTube TV, also costs $50 per month for more than 70 channels and requires a decent Internet connection, especially if you want HD resolution or to stream more than one show at once.
With Evoca there will be no bandwidth issues in the home when watching multiple streams, HD or even 4K video, since the signal isn't reliant on the speed of an Internet connection. This is useful for anyone without a superfast internet connection, but especially so for people with speeds that might not support 4K at all -- Netflix requires 25Mbps to stream in 4K, for example.
The niche for Edge Networks is in smaller markets that are underserved by Internet providers and by cable/broadcast. Many communities are in so-called "TV deserts" where there are few, if any, local broadcast stations. These areas often also have poor Internet for streaming. Next Gen TV, with its more efficient HEVC compression, opens up possibilities like this for high-quality, more varied content.
It's unlikely Evoca will expand to larger markets, where internet is generally cheaper, faster and lacks data caps. In those markets, cutting the cord usually just means getting an antenna and streaming everything not broadcast. It's probably surprising to many people how often that's not an option in many parts of the US.
To Boise and beyond
Edge Networks is aiming to launch Evoca this summer in Boise, with the intention of expanding to other, similarly sized markets in the future. Official pricing and specific channels available haven't been announced, nor have many details about the hardware. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months, and how subscribers in Boise like it.
For the rest of us, how well Evoca does might have some influence on offerings in other, larger markets. Perhaps more stations might see this as a way to offer a wider variety of content, in new ways, just on a smaller scale than a full "cable" TV package.
Got a question for Geoff? First, check out all the other articles he's written on topics such as why you shouldn't buy expensive HDMI cables, TV resolutions explained, how HDR works and more.
Still have a question? Tweet at him @TechWriterGeoff, then check out his travel photography on Instagram. He also thinks you should check out his best-selling sci-fi novel and its sequel.
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Cable TV channels from an over-the-air antenna? Next Gen TV makes it possible - CNET
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