With some “event” TV making on-air television still desirable for even the staunchest of cord cutters, one company is working on bringing local TV broadcasting to tablets.
Tablet TV Plus beams local TV signals to an iPad using a simple ATSC tuner and a seven-inch antenna.
It’s all built on Tablet TV, a one-time-purchase app that works on all iPad models. With the app and the antenna, Tablet TV can pick up on signals up to about 35 miles away. Launch director Luc Tomasino told MediaPost that the intended audience will use Tablet TV as a second screen who want to bring live TV with them on location, whether that location is a work site or a back yard.
Tablet TV Plus has been in businesses since last year; it was available for pre-order in November 2015. The company is still working on an Android version, as well as discussing with television studios about the possibility of using TV station spectrum to leverage a VOD service. It isn’t available from big box stores, but Tomasino says that so far Tablet TV Plus has sold “well.”
The app and antenna come together for $90 and provide standard over-the-air viewing. An internet connection isn’t required to watch or record television, since it operates entirely by using local signals.
Tablet TV Plus also offers DVR capability, and Internet accessibility when Wi-Fi is available. With Chromecast or Apple TV’s Airplay, the Tablet TV image can also be cast to a TV set. For cord-cutters, moving to tablets and VOD is the next big thing – but services like this one might be a good bridge between traditional television and watch-anywhere mobile devices.