The NFL playoffs are long over, but I still wanted to quickly document my experience using an antenna to watch a fair chunk of it in my San Francisco apartment. I bought an $11 “HD” antenna from Amazon after consulting with my dad. It’s good to see that it’s affordable, and made it an easy purchase. I scanned for channels a few times to find the ideal location for the antenna in my apartment1Hanging in the slatted blinds. and started experiencing my childhood again.
Naturally, the two most notable drawbacks were the reintroduction of commercials, and a slightly inconsistent signal. It’s amazing seeing how many commercials are repeated, how often a show is interrupted by them, and also how they’ve changed since I was a kid. However, one dramatic improvement from when I was younger is that commercials are no longer noticably louder than the main content. In fact, I felt they were quieter at times. I’m not sure if that’s due to legislation, new marketing research, or something else entirely, but I’m thankful for the change.
The antenna also proved useful for watching the Winter Olympics. I’m not into them enough to bother paying for Peacock+ so, despite how bad the broadcast coverage on NBC was, it proved sufficient for watching live events in the evenings.
Beyond the Super Bowl and Olympics, I haven’t used the antenna. I don’t watch local news, and there are no sports on right now that I care to pay attention to. However, I’ll be happy to have it available for nationally broadcast events. Maybe there will be something else it’s useful for. It won’t hurt to hold onto.
- 1Hanging in the slatted blinds.