As for defunct, I don't agree. I switched TV providers a few years ago when Time Warner (now "Spectrum") threatened to drop ABC, who had the NFL contract that year, over a price dispute and changed to Dish. Then two years ago Dish announced a price increase for the first time in 10 years. Well, I thought they were due, but now, in the last 2 years, 3 price increases. I went from $29.99, to $49.99, and the only channel I could not get "over the air" for free, was MSNBC.
In January, 2022, after six months of research, including Amazon's recast and a few other "DVR" type services, I decided on the TiVo Bolt VOX. I switched out the 500 GB hard drive, for a 1 TB, and LOVE my TiVo!!! I paid about $350, including LIFETIME guide subscription.
I now save $50.00 a month, and get MORE channels that I ever did with Dish or Time Warner. I live on the Westside of LA, and with less than $100 for an inconspicuous, outdoor antenna and signal amplifier, I pull in over 160 stations. Over 100 are in English, others are in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, etc.
I pay $5.00 a month for NBC "Peacock" so I can get my MSNBC programs.
I LOVE my TiVo, and ability to record FOUR stations at once. I can stream to other rooms in the house, or stream when I am away. Dish used to have a sling plate, that I bought, to stream when you were away, but they dropped that and forced people to pay more to have a Hopper. I don't pay a penny to stream anywhere now.
My only regret, is that I didn't do this several years ago. I figure that in saving $50.00 a month (for the lowest Dish package), and I paid $350.00 for my TiVo (again with LIFETIME guide subscription), that in seven months I will have recovered my TiVo Bolt Vox cost, and then will be saving $600.00 a year. Of course if you have a higher package with either a cable or satellite provider, you could save even more.
As long as TiVo keeps its promise for lifetime guide subscription, I can't see ever going back to paying a cable or satellite provider.
With both Dish and Time Warner/Spectrum, I only got two PBS stations. In the LA area, not counting Riverside or the OC, there are 4 PBS stations, including KLCS - the LA Unified School District. With "over the air", FREE digital broadcasts, all 4 PBS networks in the LA area broadcast 4 streams each. The firs is HD, the other 3 are SD. So, I now get 16 PBS streams!!!
Additionally, most of the other "commercial" broadcasters also broadcast one HD channel and 2 to 5, or more SD channels. None of the SD "sub-channels" were ever provided by a paid cable or satellite company.
So, now, five months in, I couldn't be more HAPPY with my TiVo service. I would recommend it to anyone I know. Anyone who comes to my house and sees my TV while it is on, and I let know that it is TiVo, and I don't pay a dime, is shocked at the broadcast quality, the guide, the options, the ability to record 4 broadcasts at once, and the ability to stream anywhere I have WiFi access.
I am a very "happy camper" with TiVo. I think I should be on one of their ads, or a spokesperson for them!!! I had never imagined that I could get so much, after the initial outlay of buying the device & service, for not another penny, ever again for TV broadcast service recording/DVR.
