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Into Tomorrow listener Cal in Bowling Green, Kentucky listens to the Podcasts and asked us about getting a DVR that can record the shows he enjoys over-the-air, rather than on cable:
I’m interested in switching to over the air digital TV, but want to be able to record with digital quality. I was hoping for a good recommendation for a DVR that would work with my over the air antenna.
Good question, Cal. Cord cutters, such as yourself, have been raving about the latest over the air HD DVR that has been released by one of the oldest players in the game — TiVo. The TiVo “Roamio” over the air DVR has a 500 GB storage capacity (not as much as the 2TB on my DISH HD DVR) and can hold up to 75 hours of your favorite HD programming.
The best part?… it will cost you only $49.99! With it, you can also access Netflix, YouTube and other streaming services. Access to TiVo’s channels and features will cost you extra, but $14.99 a month is quite feasible in comparison to much more expensive cable and satellite subscriptions.
If you don’t mind shelling out bigger bucks for your DVR, the Tablo over-the-air DVR is also popular with consumers and boasts a pretty nice, easy-to-use interface. Capabilities are pretty similar for both products, but the nice thing about the Tablo is that it offers users a 2-tuner option at $199 and a 4-tuner option for $270.
You can also have a look at the Channel Master DVR+, it’s not cheap, it costs $399 with a 1TB hard drive and $299 if you’re ok with using your own external hard drive, but it does not require a monthly service fee and it does include some streaming services such as Vudu and Pandora.
Kris in Redwood City, California listens on 1590 KLIV and asked us about Facebook likes:
I noticed a nice uptick in Facebook likes for my page. I haven’t changed anything in terms of the amount of content, nor have I done any advertising. Did the engineers finally listen to all the complaints by small business owners and change the algorithm?
Facebook did change its algorithms, but you’re one of the lucky ones… most people seem to be experiencing a drop in likes and especially in reach.
Facebook decided recently to remove likes from disabled accounts, which really just lowers your number but not your real reach, but Facebook has also changed the way in which businesses show up on users’ timelines.
Their new algorithm only really makes posts visible to a fairly low percentage of subscribers (who did like the page to get those posts in the first place), and will allow those businesses to pay to have their message reach more of their own subscribers. Needless to say, this hasn’t gone over too well with small businesses.
The companies that have benefited from the change in algorithms seem to those mostly writing editorial articles, in your case, your post may be getting more views if Facebook considers them to be less commercial and more potentially interesting to their users.
You may have gotten lucky, but the vast majority of small businesses, and several not-so-small ones like Eat24.com who wrote a breakup letter to Facebook, told them “it’s not us, it’s you…” and closed their fan page, are not exactly embracing Facebook’s changes.