Cord-cutters are those people who want to free themselves from the high cost of cable or satellite TV by getting signals over the air (OTA) or with streaming content. While there are a lot of streaming solutions with or without a box like an Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV, getting TV signals from HDTV providers in your area requires an OTA antenna. That doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll get a good signal from that broadcaster, which is why the free HDTV Tower Finder app from Winegard is a very useful tool for cord-cutters.
Launching the app provides a map with rings designating various distances around your location. Those distances — 25, 40, 50, and 70 miles — correspond to the capability of many OTA antennas that you can purchase. Each broadcast antenna is designated on the map with a rather crudely-drawn antenna icon, and tapping on that icon brings up a small dialog showing the station, its call sign, the channel it is on, and how far away from your location the antenna is.
Still, for most people this app makes it very easy to find where local broadcast towers are and point their OTA antenna in the best possible direction for the stations they wish to watch. Winegard also makes a line of OTA antennas, so if you’re considering cutting the cord it’s worth taking a look at their hardware.
