Free TV for your Boat or RV?

OK, This is slightly off topic but you may find this interesting especially if you read my post "HD Satellite TV on Your Catamaran" or if you are looking for a cost affective way to enjoy TV on your boat or RV or at home.  I keep wondering how the transition from land to sea can be made as smooth as possible.  Having the creature comforts of home on your craft will certainly help although i suspect there will be much more than TV to keep me occupied on a Cat.

News flash! I was reminded recently that TV is free don't ya know.  I for one am starting to really question why I send Directv  over $100.00 a month.  TheFutureofTV.org  claims a better future for free TV.  Apparently you can help the Free TV cause by signing up here.  They claim that 3D could be coming and they already broadcast digitally in HD including moble DTV.  Wouldn't it be nice to take those ugly dishes off of your roof and pocket some extra cash?  As previously discussed dishes for boats or RV's are not cheap.  Oh but wait, you have to replace the dish with an off air antenna.  Oh well, I already have one on my roof.  Perhaps a small price to pay for Free TV.

But what about my DVR?  For 19.99 or 12.95 per month (Monthly price depends on which plan you go with) you can have a full featured DVR with Internet access, On Demand content and much more with your TiVo subscription! Sounds to good to be true and as I found out the price initial price has turned me off.

Here is the summary of my research on Tivo's pricing plans:
I have 4 receivers now, so to replace all of them would require an initial investment of approximately $1,860.00 if I go with the Premium plan.  The Premium XL came out to an initial investment of aprox $2078.  WOW.  Why so high?  You have to buy the equipment and they are not cheap.  There are a couple other plans where you pay less initially however it ends up being more down the road, at least in my case.

If my math is correct however since the monthly charge would be a measly $12.95 plus $9.95 each for the three extra receivers I would break even after two years and save around $700.00 per year thereafter.  But what if you need to replace a receiver?  The savings would probably end up being less long term.  Plus I would be giving up a ton of extra channels like DIY, Discovery and other outdoor channels.  I can live without them but is it worth it?  If I only needed one receiver, TiVo is a much more attractive offer. 

Another showstopper for the boat or RV is that it requires a phone connection for the program guide and other things I presume.  You would need an Internet connection for the On Demand and browsers features as well. 

TiVo did mention that the new DVR's are Smaller and more energy efficient and more powerful than previous TiVo generations.  This is important for Catamarans and RV's.

The future of TV is so unknown.  Who knows what it will be like in two years.  You can already watch your favorite shows through the networks web site and TV's now days are internet ready.  There’s a thought.  Internet on your boat.  Sounds like a topic for a future discussion.

You could go with Free TV and not pay the 19.99 per month.  This would most likely be the only for me if I were setting up my Catamaran today.  You loose the convenient program guide which you don't get with Free TV. 

Remember the small TV Guide magazine?  Do they even sell those any more?  I used to see the TV listings come with the Newspaper.  Can't say I recall seeing one of those for a year or two, at least not from our local newspaper.

Additional Resources:
TiVo’s Free HD over-the-air signals page.

If you don't know what TiVo or DVR's are by now (Read Consumer Reports for the low down on DVRs ) you are behind the times.