In early January 2014, I finally dropped my cable TV service after many, many years. I did this because the cable bill was rising higher than I wanted to pay every month, and because I realized that lately most of what I was watching on TV was occurring on the free, over-the-air channels that I didn't need cable to see.
My TV is an old one from the 1990s, with no digital tuner, so I went out and bought a digital tuner ($49.99) to receive TV channels, as well as a $29.99 amplified antenna. Some stations come in better on my TV than others, probably due to their distance. (I receive a few channels from Canada and Ohio as well as my local Detroit, Michigan channels.)
Last (Saturday) night, I turned the TV to 11.2 (Me-TV) which plays old TV shows. This is Me-TV's Toledo, Ohio station, since they don't have a Detroit channel. "Wonder Woman" (the 1970s series) came on at 8pm, followed by an episode of the 1960s "Star Trek" program (with newly-added special effects of the Enterprise), and at 10pm was an episode of a TV host called Svengoolie on "Me-TV" who (Wikipedia informs me) has been doing the show for decades. I only watched a bit of the beginning of the show; he was playing the 1966 Batman movie.
This lineup reminded me of how back in the early 1990s, I thought there should be a channel called CULT TV that would air cool old TV shows, either ones that I remembered from my youth or ones that I'd heard about, read about, but had never seen. There are quite a few "retro TV" channels on the free, over-the-air signals in my area.
Here's a list of all the channels that I get for free in the Detroit area, along with information about each station (Wikipedia entry, and their program schedule) and what is airing on each channel right now as I write this post (Sunday at 10pm EST):
2.1: WJBK, Detroit (FOX)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WJBK
TV schedule: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/category/238118/fox-2-tv-schedule
Playing now: "Fox 2 News" (TV show)
2.2: "Movies!" (movies all day)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movies!
TV schedule: http://moviestvnetwork.com/schedule.php
Playing now: "Zorba the Greek" (1964 movie)
4.1: WDIV, Detroit (NBC)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wdiv
TV schedule: http://www.clickondetroit.com/seenon4/tvlistings
Playing now: "The Voice" (TV show)
4.2: THIS TV (movies)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_TV
TV schedule: http://www.thistv.com/schedule
Playing now: "Stargate SG-1" (TV show)
7.1: WXYZ, Detroit (ABC)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WXYZ-TV
Playing now: "The Oscars" (TV special)
7.2: LWN (Live Well Network; health, etc.)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Well_Network
TV schedule: http://livewellnetwork.com/wxyz-schedule/8290772
Playing now: "Paid program"
7.3: Bounce (movies & TV shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounce_TV
TV schedule: http://www.bouncetv.com/schedule/
Playing now: "Brewster's Millions" (1985 movie)
9.1: CBET, Ontario Canada (CBC)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBET
TV schedule: http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/daily/today/cbc_television
Playing now: "The National" (news program)
11.1: WTOL, Toledo (CBS)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTOL
TV schedule: http://www.toledonewsnow.com/category/233260/wtol-tv-guide
Playing now: "The Good Wife" (TV show)
11.2: ME-TV (old TV shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me-TV
TV schedule: http://www.metvnetwork.com/schedule/
Playing now: "Thriller" (1960s TV show)
18.1 and 18.2: WDWO, Detroit (TCT)
These two religious stations (which seem to air identical content) never come in well (or at all).
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDWO
TV schedule: http://www.tct.tv/watch-tct/schedules
Playing now: "Victim to Victory" (religious TV show)
18.3: WDWO, Detroit (TCT KIDS)
This channel has old TV shows and kids shows.
Unfortunately the signal is very poor, usually breaking up or doesn't come in at all.
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCT_Kids
TV schedule: http://www.tct.tv/watch-tct/schedules/tct-kids
Playing now: "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" (1978 TV movie)
20.1: WMYD, Detroit (formerly WXON, from 1972 to 1997)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMYD
TV schedule: http://www.tv20detroit.com/programming/channel-listings
Playing now: "Because We Are Men" (locally-produced TV sitcom)
20.2: COZI TV (old TV shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COZI_TV
TV schedule: http://www.tv20detroit.com/programming/cozi-tv
Playing now: "The Bionic Woman" (TV show)
23.1: WUDT TV (religious shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUDT
TV schedule (I assume): http://www.daystar.com/schedule/
Playing now: "Rod Parsley" (religious show)
24.1: WNWO, Toledo (NBC)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNWO
TV schedule: http://www.northwestohio.com/entertainment/schedule.aspx
Playing now: "The Voice" (TV show)
24.2: RTN (Retro TV Network; old TV shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network
TV schedule: http://www.myretrotv.com/affiliates--schedules.html
Playing now: Off Beat Cinema plays "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932 movie)
31.1: ION (formerly PAX TV, 1998-2005)
This station is continually playing dramas like "Criminal Minds," "Law & Order," etc.
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Television
TV schedule: http://iontelevision.com/schedule
Playing now: "Leverage" (TV show)
31.2: Qubo (educational-type kids shows all day)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubo
TV schedule: http://www.qubo.com/schedule
Playing now: "Willa's Wild Life" (cartoon show)
31.3: IONLife (health shows, etc.)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Life
TV schedule: http://www.ionlife.com/schedule
Playing now: "Diva on a Dime" (TV show)
31.4 (Shop), 31.5 (QVC), 31.6 (HSN): home shopping channels
32.1: TVO (TV Ontario)
Unfortunately this Canadian station doesn't come in consistently on my TV; sometimes no signal.
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVOntario
TV schedule: http://ww3.tvo.org/schedule/daily
Playing now: "If Walls Could Talk" (British TV documentary series)
38.1 (WADL-HD) and 38. 4 (WADL-SD), Mt. Clemens, Michigan
The 38.1 thru 38.4 stations come in good if I turn one of the "rabbit ears" on my antenna downward, but not at all if I have them both up! 38.1 and 38.4 are the same broadcast, although 38.4 comes in better on my TV for some reason. This channel plays TV shows and movies. (They play Three Stooges shorts on Sunday night around midnight, too!)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WADL_(TV)
TV schedule: http://www.wadldetroit.com/
Playing now: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (TV show)
38.2: Antenna TV (old TV shows)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_TV
TV schedule: http://antennatv.tv/
Playing now: "Barney Miller" (TV show)
38.3: The Word Network (religious)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Word_Network
TV schedule: http://www.thewordnetwork.org/watch-twn
Playing now: "Peter Popoff Ministries" (religious TV show)
50.1: WKBD, Detroit (CW)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKBD
TV schedule: http://cwdetroit.cbslocal.com/cw-detroit-tv-schedule/
Playing now: "Unfaithful" (2002 movie)
56.1: WTVS-HD, Detroit (PBS)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTVS
TV schedule: http://www.dptv.org/watch/schedule.shtml
Playing now: "Doc Martin: Revealed" (documentary about British TV show)
56.2: WTVS-SD, Detroit (PBS World) (plays different shows than above channel)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(TV_channel)
TV schedule: http://www.dptv.org/watch/schedule.shtml
Playing now: "Global Voices" (TV show)
56.3: WTVS-SD2, Detroit (CREATE) (health, cooking shows, etc.)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Create_(TV_network)
TV schedule: http://www.dptv.org/watch/schedule.shtml
Playing now: "Ask This Old House" (TV show)
62.1: WWJ, Detroit (CBS)
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWJ-TV
TV schedule: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/program-guide/
Playing now: "The Good Wife" (TV show)
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