Over the air television? Sounds old school. But it isn’t.
You can get a tremendous amount of local TV programming over the air. The best part about it that the picture is sharp, the sound is great, and the price is free. Combined with set top boxes like Apple TV and Roku, you can completely cut the cord with your local cable company. The thing is, you can’t record anything. At least not as easily as the set top box that your cable company supplies. Not to mention that the experience of finding programming is pretty primitive.
A Canadian company is out to change that with their new digital video recorder called Tablo TV. Here’s what it has going for it:
- It is available in a two-tuner version, or four-tuner version
- It can record anything broadcast over the air
- It can stream the broadcast to a computer, mobile device, or compatible media hub.
- The Tablo has no onboard storage, but it has two USB ports. You connect a hard drive to add as much DVR space as you want.
- You can use a web portal on a computer, iOS or Android apps, to show the channel guide (with large icons or previews), or watch TV.
- You can also watch your recordings away from home by using Tablo Connect
I spoke with Grant Hall, CEO of Nuvyyo which is the company behind Tablo TV and he thinks the moment is now for the Tablo TV to be a hit. In the US, cord cutting is nothing new with thousands of Americans dumping their cable companies last year. In Canada, cord cutting is kind of new. But as Canadians become more aware of the trend, and what is available to them for over the air TV, Hall thinks you’ll see the trend take off here. The fact that the CRTC is talking about reforms to how cable companies deliver TV to Canadians is proof that this trend is starting to happen. Though, it may be coming under threat. The CRTC is holding public consultations yesterday regarding the future of television in Canada, including the possibility of allowing broadcasters to discontinue transmission of TV signals over the air (under Fostering Local Programming, refer to #69, question Q24). That would be a shame as I think Canadians need some sort of affordable alternative to the cable companies for the television that they want to watch. It’s a safe bet once the CRTC gets out of the way, Tablo TV will be the choice of many Canadians to get over the air broadcasting.
But if for whatever reason that Canada doesn’t work out, there’s a huge market in the US for them to play in.
In Depth: Nuvyyo
Posted in Commentary with tags Nuvyyo on June 10, 2017 by itnerdThere’s a problem with broadcast television in Canada. There’s a lack of distribution channels that are available for Canadians. An example of this is when Bell and Rogers took issue with Netflix’s unregulated distribution in Canada. Contrast that with the US where you can get an over the top services like Hulu and Netflix with ease. Never mind being completely able to cut the cord while not losing access to local TV among other things.
This is why Nuvyyo exists. This company makes a product called Tablo which is a small device that works with an antenna so that consumers can discover, stream and record their favorite broadcast television without a cable subscription. I’ve written about this company on three separate occasions in the past and they are now hitting the market with a new version of the Tablo. Called the Tablo DUAL, people can watch their favourite television programming any time they want by streaming and recording up to 40 hours of television without the need for additional storage. The slim form-factor makes it easy for anyone to plug-and-watch their local broadcast television whenever and wherever they choose, and on any device. Cord cutters will love this device. Besides the Tablo, the companies has been integrating its technology with Roku, Amazon Fire TV, AndroidTV.
I spoke to Grant Hall who is the CEO and Founder at Nuvyyo and he is open about the fact that Tablo sells like wildfire in the US because of their ability to cut the cord and not lose anything. As I mentioned above, Canadians don’t have that option at present. The way he sees it, the CRTC has a real opportunity here to really change that if they so choose. There just has to be the will for them to do that. Regardless, the demand for new distribution channels for TV in Canada is strong and that gives opportunities to companies like Nuvyyo to provide products to fill this demand.
Hopefully, the environment will change in Canada to make devices like the Tablo take off in Canada like it has in the US. When that happens, Nuvyyo will be a company to watch as they’ve already proven that they have a product that will give people the ability to cut the cord without giving up the TV options that they are used to.
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