NEW
CHALLENGERS
Apple TV+
Details of Apple’s new
subscription TV service
were still a bit sketchy this
summer—we didn’t know
the price or launch date as of
early July—but it was clear that
In addition to bingeing
on all that, you will be able
to subscribe to premium
channels, such as HBO and
Showtime, and watch them
from the Apple TV app—
similar to the way Amazon
Prime Video Channels works.
In the spring, an Apple TV
app rolled out to select 2018
and 2019 Samsung smart TVs,
and will soon be available on
other smart TVs and streaming
players as well. This means
that, for the fi rst time, folks
won’t need an Apple TV device
to get content purchased or
rented from iTunes on their TV.Disney+
When it launches Nov. 12,
Disney will open the gates to
a huge library of blockbuster
content for the relatively low
price of $7 per month or $70 if
you pay for a whole year. The
entertainment goes far beyond
Disney-branded material.Apple TV+ would be home to
an expansive, and expensive-
to-produce, slate of original
content. That includes a reboot
of Steven Spielberg’s 1980s
series “Amazing Stories”;
a drama about a morning
talk show, starring Reese
Witherspoon and Jennifer
Aniston; “Little Voice,” about
an up-and-coming singer,TV antennas
are enjoying a
resurgence in
popularity. As
of early 2019,
28 percent of U.S.
households with
a broadband
connection were
using an antenna to
get TV broadcasts,
according to
research firm Parks
Associates.
“Digital antennas
are experiencing
a resurgenceas consumers
consider over-the-
air TV and [online]
video services as
alternatives to
traditional pay
TV,” says Brett
Sappington, senior
director of research
at Parks.
Buy an antenna
and you might
be able to skip a
pay-TV service and
just sign up for a
streaming service.
And they don’t costmuch—it’s a one-
time expense of
about $20 to $80.
You may get dozens
of channels, and
picture quality might
be better than with
cable. But reception
can vary based on
where you live.
Next year
some stations
will start moving
to a new over-
the-air standard
called “Next-Gen
Broadcast TV.”It’s based on the
internet protocol (IP)
used by computers,
so web content can
be sent alongside
traditional TV
broadcasts.
You may also get
4K video and high
dynamic range
(HDR) programming,
which yields
brighter, more
colorful images.
Another benefit
is that signals can
also be received onmobile devices such
as smartphones
and tablets.
Today’s TVs won’t
be able to receive
these broadcasts,
but don’t worry:
The switch will take
years to complete.
Even then, older TVs
will be able to add
an external tuner
to play the new
signals. And your
current antenna will
still work fine with
these new signals.BACK TO THE FUTURE: WHY ANTENNAS ARE HOT AGAINfrom director J.J. Abrams and
songwriter Sara Bareilles;
and a thriller from director
M. Night Shyamalan. Oprah
Winfrey will create a series
of documentaries. Apple is
earmarking $2 billion for
video content, according
to Rich Greenfi eld, analyst
at equity research and
strategy fi rm BTIG.ILLUSTRATION^
(A
NTENNA):^ JASONS
CHNEIDER