Apple TV Local Channels

[_Forever]

Hi guys, I’m looking into getting an Apple TV, it’s the last piece of moving out of the Android ecosystem. My Shield TV has the feature to input local channels in directly, straight from an antenna through USB dongle. Does the Apple TV have something similar? I can’t find much in it.

I understand you can achieve this through something like plex or a HDhomerun box but if I could avoid spending another hundred bucks that would be great.

 

[JBaby]

No, that’s not possible. You’ll need a 3rd party solution. The tv only has the power supply, HDMI, and Ethernet on the back.

 

[mallbritton]

Alternatively you can subscribe to a streaming TV service that carries your local channels.

 

[One2Grift]

Alternate: an app called LoCast (if it’s offered in your locals market). It’s essentially an antenna (video quality not as good though) that streams all your locals. A 5$ a month donation provides you with even some your antenna may not pick up.
Just one FYI about locast. The law says locast/companies can’t retransmit local stations except for free. Locast gets around this by making payments a donation. If you don’t donate you still get the local channels but you get a lot of ads interrupting your tv watching. Best to just pay the 5$.
Certain broadcasters are suing locast but interestingly a couple of heavy streaming hitters are supporting locast. Technically Locast is doing nothing wrong but a judge could say they’re breaking the spirit of the law. This case should take a couple of years before anything is decided.

locast let’s you try it for free and you can cancel anytime.

 

[senorgreg]

We have our local channels on our AppleTV by using an ”HDHomeRun” and the “Channels“ app for AppleTV. You just plug your antenna cable into the HDHomeRun along with an Ethernet connection to your network. Now you have your antenna based channels available on all devices on your home network. To view them on the AppleTV we use the Channels app which finds the HDHomeRun on your network, tunes the channels and downloads your TV guide. There‘s even a simple DVR feature. Works very reliably for us for years now.

HDHomeRun - https://www.silicondust.com/
Channels app - https://getchannels.com/

 

[waw74]

second for hdhomerun and channels

they also have apps for iPhone and iPad, so you can watch stuff on those too

with the free version, you can only pause the one show you're currently watching.

For full DVR that lets you record shows, you'll need their $8/mo or $80/yr subscription.
For this you need a computer with a storage drive, powered on and running. A raspberry pi will work, and also some NAS devices, or a "regular" computer will work also. (win/Mac/linux)
it will flag commercials for you too, so 95% of the time it's a single button press to skip to the end. detection isn't perfect, that's the missing 5%, you can also make it auto skip too, but if it's mistagged, you might miss part of a show.
also with DVR you get remote access, so as long as your internet connection is fast enough, you'll be able to access Live TV and recorded shows from anywhere. you also have the option of stopping one one device and picking up on another since they'll all have access to the same recorded shows.

 

[mallbritton]

To get my local OTA stations I use a Tablo Dual Lite OTA DVR with an antenna on the roof. It has a 1 TB external drive connected via USB and it is connected into my LAN via ethernet. The Table app allows me to watch on either of my TVs and any iDevice in the home. I do not currently have it set up for remote viewing, although I could do that.

I paid for the lifetime sub to the guide service to allow for scheduling of recordings up to two weeks in advance and I also pay for the ad skip feature, at $20 a year.

 

[ipedro]

I cut the cord very early on when the generation 1 Apple TV was released and there was no content other than iTunes movies, podcasts and eventually tv shows. I missed having access to my local channels because I was so used to having something always on in the background.

But I stuck with it. Once I unlearned decades of old TV habits, I now far prefer to have a collection of my favourite shows on demand rather than live TV. At first that meant buying seasons of my shows (still cheaper than cable) but today, we live in a golden era of streaming. In addition to all the streaming services, every local channel in my city has an app with their own content as well as licensed content.

I don’t need an antenna, just the apps for my local stations, all of which I believe plug into Apple TV’s Up Next feature and appear in line in the TV app.

What do you watch that requires an antenna and can’t be found in a tvOS app?

 

[mallbritton]

Perhaps @_Forever doesn't want to subscribe to several VOD services. I'm with you, though. I would much rather have my video entertainment VOD. I do subscribe to YouTube TV for sports and news programing that I can't get OTA.

 

[JBaby]

I cut the cord very early on when the generation 1 Apple TV was released and there was no content other than iTunes movies, podcasts and eventually tv shows. I missed having access to my local channels because I was so used to having something always on in the background.

But I stuck with it. Once I unlearned decades of old TV habits, I now far prefer to have a collection of my favourite shows on demand rather than live TV. At first that meant buying seasons of my shows (still cheaper than cable) but today, we live in a golden era of streaming. In addition to all the streaming services, every local channel in my city has an app with their own content as well as licensed content.

I don’t need an antenna, just the apps for my local stations, all of which I believe plug into Apple TV’s Up Next feature and appear in line in the TV app.

What do you watch that requires an antenna and can’t be found in a tvOS app?

Not everyone lives in an area with local affiliate tvOS apps. I’m one of those people. But I don’t have an antenna because I live too far away. I only care about one affiliate and I get it through Paramount+. I only watch the local news. I watch everything else commercial-free VOD.

 

[One2Grift]

We have our local channels on our AppleTV by using an ”HDHomeRun” and the “Channels“ app for AppleTV. You just plug your antenna cable into the HDHomeRun along with an Ethernet connection to your network. Now you have your antenna based channels available on all devices on your home network. To view them on the AppleTV we use the Channels app which finds the HDHomeRun on your network, tunes the channels and downloads your TV guide. There‘s even a simple DVR feature. Works very reliably for us for years now.

HDHomeRun - https://www.silicondust.com/
Channels app - https://getchannels.com/

That’s definitely a good setup. Channels is also my way to DVR everything plus it’s a single TV guide(very cabletv box in that way). Just adding the antenna/home run (I have to use locast, I’m too far away) plus the PlutoTV app gives lots of free content that can be DVR’d. Add in Prime or ATV+ and that’s a lot! of content for under 20$ a month(not counting initial setup cost)

 

[_Forever]

Thanks for the replies, I was just hoping there was a more cost effective solution than adding another piece of hardware. Adding an HDhomerun, I'm pushing $300 bucks to get into an Apple TV. Our local channels do not have apps unfortunately and we enjoy having them for sports and local news. We use Philo for TV and it's been great vs some of the others that are 3x more expensive that do include local channels, just trying to get around that.

 

[satcomer]

Thanks for the replies, I was just hoping there was a more cost effective solution than adding another piece of hardware. Adding an HDhomerun, I'm pushing $300 bucks to get into an Apple TV. Our local channels do not have apps unfortunately and we enjoy having them for sports and local news. We use Philo for TV and it's been great vs some of the others that are 3x more expensive that do include local channels, just trying to get around that.

You still need an antenna to receive the TV signals is first thing you have to do! With you limited patience the go the Tablo route to use that as DVR to Apple TV!

 

[oneMadRssn]

Thanks for the replies, I was just hoping there was a more cost effective solution than adding another piece of hardware. Adding an HDhomerun, I'm pushing $300 bucks to get into an Apple TV. Our local channels do not have apps unfortunately and we enjoy having them for sports and local news. We use Philo for TV and it's been great vs some of the others that are 3x more expensive that do include local channels, just trying to get around that.

You can save a bit by buying an HDHomeRun refurbished. Also, I love the company and all, but they rename their hardware all the time and it's very confusing, and older models are basically exactly the same as the new ones and work just as well. Check out ebay to save some money, this will work just as well as their newer two-tuner model whatever it's called.

That said, the HDHomeRun + Channels App is the best way to go. It works sooo well, and requires no subscriptions or ongoing fees (as long as you're ok not having a scheduled DVR). Sure the HDHomeRun, antenna, and whatnot have an upfront cost. But it's a setup that will work for many years if not decades.

The only thing to watch out for is ATSC 3.0. It's a newish OTA standard that is just starting to be deployed. It's still a long way away from widespread adoption, and ATSC 1 will probably continue to exist for at another decade (they skipped 2.0, it was outdated before it could be launched). So we're at a sort of crossing-roads point in terms of OTA technology where the hardware supporting the new standard is expensive, but buying hardware supporting the old standard might not have the longevity one normally expects of OTA tuners.

 

[One2Grift]

Thanks for the replies, I was just hoping there was a more cost effective solution than adding another piece of hardware. Adding an HDhomerun, I'm pushing $300 bucks to get into an Apple TV. Our local channels do not have apps unfortunately and we enjoy having them for sports and local news. We use Philo for TV and it's been great vs some of the others that are 3x more expensive that do include local channels, just trying to get around that.

missed the post or just not interested? The app is called locast. It’s offered in most areas (though not all). You’ll get every local including ones your antenna likely won’t pick up. It’s free to try. If you find it fits your needs then it’s 5$ a month. That cost is likely as good as it gets short term. Long term, more than about 3 years, the antenna and home run get below 5$ a month average.

 

[randyharris]

second for hdhomerun and channels

they also have apps for iPhone and iPad, so you can watch stuff on those too

with the free version, you can only pause the one show you're currently watching.

For full DVR that lets you record shows, you'll need their $8/mo or $80/yr subscription.
For this you need a computer with a storage drive, powered on and running. A raspberry pi will work, and also some NAS devices, or a "regular" computer will work also. (win/Mac/linux)
it will flag commercials for you too, so 95% of the time it's a single button press to skip to the end. detection isn't perfect, that's the missing 5%, you can also make it auto skip too, but if it's mistagged, you might miss part of a show.
also with DVR you get remote access, so as long as your internet connection is fast enough, you'll be able to access Live TV and recorded shows from anywhere. you also have the option of stopping one one device and picking up on another since they'll all have access to the same recorded shows.

For the auto commercial skip to work, do you know if it has to be on a computer/NAS or would it also work with the HDhomeRun Scribe 4K which has a drive built into it? I'd prefer to have a DVR appliance than rely on a secondary computer/NAS but I'm guessing that might be how it detects the commercials. thanks

 

[oneMadRssn]

For the auto commercial skip to work, do you know if it has to be on a computer/NAS or would it also work with the HDhomeRun Scribe 4K which has a drive built into it? I'd prefer to have a DVR appliance than rely on a secondary computer/NAS but I'm guessing that might be how it detects the commercials. thanks

It's confusing, but there are several products I think you are conflating.

HDHomeRun makes both hardware and software. For hardware they make network tuners alone, tuners with a built-in DVR drive, or just a DVR drive. They also make client software for using the tubers. They also let you install their DVR server software on anything, but the easiest way to get their DVR server software is to buy one of their hardware products that has it built-in. They do not have automatic commercial skipping.

Channels is software only. They rely on HDHomeRun network tuners to work. They have a client app which is great alone. They also have DVR server software, but you have to BYO computer/NAS for it to work, and it has the automatic commercial skipping feature.

So you see, if you get the HDHomeRun Scribe, you can run the HDHomeRun DVR but it doesn't have automatic commercial skipping. To get that feature, you need Channels DVR. Channels DVR can make use of the network tuner in the HDHomeRun, but it requires some other hardware to run the server software.

 

[jay968]

To get my local OTA stations I use a Tablo Dual Lite OTA DVR with an antenna on the roof. It has a 1 TB external drive connected via USB and it is connected into my LAN via ethernet. The Table app allows me to watch on either of my TVs and any iDevice in the home. I do not currently have it set up for remote viewing, although I could do that.

I paid for the lifetime sub to the guide service to allow for scheduling of recordings up to two weeks in advance and I also pay for the ad skip feature, at $20 a year.

I don't see any responses to this but I thought I'd add that I too use the Tablo Dual Lite. For the most part it's pretty good. I cannot put an antenna on the roof here and used to have rabbit ears on the main TV on the first floor of my house. I'd always get much better reception upstairs with the rabbit ears up there and almost came to running that anternna through the house cable wiring (which I do not use) to connect the downstairs TV. But after doing some research, I purchased the Tablo at Best Buy and have been fairly happy with it. It does not get ALL the stations available here in the LA area but it gets most and certainly the ones that are important to me. I can now watch TV downstairs with as good reception as my upstairs TV always got.
The only thing about the Tablo is that for some reason, with the second generation Apple TV 4k, navigating the guide with the touch on the Siri remote is oftentimes hit or miss. I can be scrolling up the guide and all of a sudden, the screen will wander out of the guide to the main home screen. This does not happen with my HD Apple TV (same generation remote) so I don't know what the problem is...either a problem with the 4k Apple TV, the particular remote or the Tablo. I am about to swap the remotes to see if it still happens, but I have found that doing so is a bit of a chore to actually do. So I am going slow.
Anyway, I DO recommend the Tablo. It's a good method for getting local TV. I did try Locast a few months ago and felt it was absolutely horrendous. All the stations were essentially unwatchable.

 

[w5jck]

Hi guys, I’m looking into getting an Apple TV, it’s the last piece of moving out of the Android ecosystem. My Shield TV has the feature to input local channels in directly, straight from an antenna through USB dongle. Does the Apple TV have something similar? I can’t find much in it.

I understand you can achieve this through something like plex or a HDhomerun box but if I could avoid spending another hundred bucks that would be great.

The ATV does not have a TV tuner. A TV tuner is required to receive OTA TV broadcasts through an antenna. You can get an OTA DVR or you can hook the antenna directly to your TV and watch those channels directly on your TV, no streaming device is required for that. If you want to watch OTA TV on multiple TVs via a single connection, then you will need to get something like an OTA DVR that can connect to your ATV, or an antenna splitter to connect the antenna directly to all the TVs.

I use a Fire TV Cube connected to an Amazon Recast (OTA DVR) and can stream the OTA TV to any TV or device in the Amazon Prime Video ecosystem. I don’t know if there is a decent equivalent for ATV though.

The least expensive way to watch OTA TV from a single antenna on multiple TVs is to hook all the TVs up directly to the antenna via a good amplified TV signal splitter like the Channel Master Ultra Mini 2, 4, or 8 TV Antenna Amplifier.

​

 

[jay968]

The Tablo devices have tuners (some have 2, some have 4) in them.

 

[randyharris]

It's confusing, but there are several products I think you are conflating.

HDHomeRun makes both hardware and software. For hardware they make network tuners alone, tuners with a built-in DVR drive, or just a DVR drive. They also make client software for using the tubers. They also let you install their DVR server software on anything, but the easiest way to get their DVR server software is to buy one of their hardware products that has it built-in. They do not have automatic commercial skipping.

Channels is software only. They rely on HDHomeRun network tuners to work. They have a client app which is great alone. They also have DVR server software, but you have to BYO computer/NAS for it to work, and it has the automatic commercial skipping feature.

So you see, if you get the HDHomeRun Scribe, you can run the HDHomeRun DVR but it doesn't have automatic commercial skipping. To get that feature, you need Channels DVR. Channels DVR can make use of the network tuner in the HDHomeRun, but it requires some other hardware to run the server software.

Thanks, I ended up going with the TabloTV Quad DVR and plugged a 1TB usb hard drive into it. I know it's only ATSC 1.0 which is fine for me until forced to go with ATSC 3.0, I wanted the commercial skip.