Streaming is the undisputed future of video. Full stop. But there still is a place for old-fashioned, over-the-air (OTA) video.
That is, free TV. Yes, it’s ancient. (There’s a good chance if you’re younger than 50 that you’ve never actually seen it in action.
) Yes, it requires just a little work to get going. Yes, it has far fewer channels than the live-streaming services. But over-the-air television has one major advantage for the foreseeable future: It is, and will remain, free.
Tablo is one of the major manufacturers of OTA (again, that’s over-the-air) tuners and DVRs. And it’s combined the two with its fourth-generation device. Is it worth messing with in the first place? Or worth getting it rather than the competition? There’s a surprising amount of things to talk about here.
Let’s do it. Note: We originally published this review in late 2023 and updated it in October 2024 as it now supports more devices. We’ve also updated it to an Editor’s Choice award .
First, some context Long before internet-based video, long before satellite and even cable, the only way to watch TV was to do so over the air. Your TV would have an antenna sticking out the top of it. That antenna would receive broadcasts flying through the air and then show them on the screen.
In that sense, things haven’t really changed all that much all these decades later. The broadcast networks — think ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in the U.S.
— still shoot out shows over the air and will contin.