this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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I remember when I was young I could just turn on the TV, pick any channel, and I would watch a properly timed ball drop in New York.

Now? It took ages to find a new years countdown on youtube. Couldn't find a decent option and eventually I settled on a tower in Texas that was in the central time zone.

Is there a good ball drop replacement for people who don't own a TV and live purely online? It doesn't need to be fancy, just count down without me having to synchronize watches -_-

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[–] turtlepower@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You know, it's funny how such things were available over-the-air, for free, to everyone that had a TV and an antenna, and we were much more "together" as a country.

Now you have to be able to afford it or end up going through a huge pain in the ass to watch it "illegally"—and we are more divided than ever.

[–] KittenBiscuits@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

OTA is still available with a reasonably cheap walmart antenna. I got one because I wanted access to the local channels without forking out for a major streaming service that includes them. Happy with my Google and $25 Philo channels and my antenna.

Ymmv in rural areas. I'm very familiar with being on the far side of a mountain from the broadcast antenna and not being able to pick up but 1-2 channels. But fortunately I live in flat land now where I'm not limited by geological obstructions.