Local channels through an antenna. Hundreds of free channels already inside most smart TVs. Movies your library card may already have paid for. I spent my working life repairing televisions, and I put all of it in one book.
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Free television comes from three places. The book takes them in the order I would explain them if you walked into the shop and asked.
Before you buy anything, a free map shows which broadcast channels reach your home and how strong they are. The book shows you how to read it in five minutes.
Pick the antenna that suits your list, connect one cable, run one menu. Then open the free channels your television came with, and add two free apps.
Many libraries pay for movie services with no commercials. You find out whether yours does, and how to sign in.
Average paid by cable and satellite households in a Deloitte survey, late 2024. That is $1,500 a year.
After an antenna, bought once. The apps need the home internet you already pay for. The antenna needs no internet at all.
The cable news channels, the cable sports networks, the premium movie channels, and movies that are still in theaters. An antenna cannot receive them and no legal free service carries them. How many channels an antenna brings in depends on where you live, and I cannot promise you a number.
I say this here because it is in the book too. Some readers end their cable service. Some keep it and return the extra boxes. Some change nothing except the free movie on Friday night. All of those are good results.
The main text is set in 16-point type, about the size used in large-print library books. It prints on ordinary letter paper.
What “free TV” really means, who pays for it, what is not free, and a plan for your first evening.
How antenna TV works, what is on the subchannels, the reception map, choosing an antenna, the channel scan, fixing a channel that breaks up, older sets, your right to put up an antenna, recording without a monthly fee, and NextGen TV.
Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Vizio WatchFree+, The Roku Channel and the rest, plus streaming sticks for a television that is not smart.
Pluto TV, Tubi, PBS and the network apps, free news, Spanish-language and children’s services, and the ones that have closed.
Kanopy, Hoopla, DVDs, and how to find out what your own library offers.
Free search tools that check the free services at once, and which old films are truly in the public domain.
How little speed streaming needs, data limits, and the one setting that stops your television reporting what you watch.
Reading the bill line by line, a test month before you cancel, and the telephone call for a lower price.
Boxes that promise everything, miracle antenna ads, “activation fees,” fake support numbers, and free trials that are not free.
More than one television, free sports honestly, captions, three complete home setups, and the questions people ask me.
Troubleshooting by symptom, a plain-word glossary, a yearly check, and a short appendix for the UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland.
Services covered by name include Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Vizio WatchFree+, Google TV Freeplay, Xumo Play, Plex, Sling Freestream, PBS, Kanopy, Hoopla and JustWatch. Those names belong to their owners. None of them has sponsored or approved this book.
A television is a receiver. It is built to receive pictures, and a surprising number of those pictures cost nothing. They always have. The broadcast stations in your city send their programs through the air for anyone with an antenna. The company that built your smart TV very likely put a few hundred free channels inside it. Your public library may be paying for a movie service on your behalf right now, and all it wants from you is your library card number.
None of this is a secret and none of it is a trick. It is simply not advertised, because nobody earns a monthly payment from you when you use it.
Stan Novak, “A word from Stan”
Free Channels, Free Movies, No Cable Bill
30-day money-back guarantee. If the book is not useful to you, ask for a refund within 30 days and you get your $19 back. Payment and refunds are handled by Hotmart.
There is one price, $19, and no deadline. Take your time. Nothing on a television is urgent.
It is a PDF. It cannot run out, and I am not going to pretend that it can.
This book is new, so there are no reader reviews yet. When readers write to me about it, I will ask before I print a word of what they say.
Yes. Receiving broadcast stations with an antenna is what those stations are licensed to provide. The free streaming services in the book are run by large, well-known companies and paid for by commercials. Library streaming is paid for by your library. The book leaves out everything that is not legal, and one chapter shows you how to recognize it so you can stay away.
The free apps work anywhere in the United States with home internet. Library streaming depends on whether your library offers it. Antenna reception depends on your address, and I cannot promise you a number of channels. Chapter 5 shows you how to check your own address on a free map before you spend a dollar on an antenna.
If you can follow one step at a time, yes. I say where it is worth hiring help, such as an antenna on the roof. I describe what each setting does and what it is usually called, so you can recognize it on any make of television. There is a plain-word glossary at the back.
Not for the antenna. A television and an antenna need no internet, no account and no password. The free apps and library streaming do need home internet, and the book shows how little speed they actually use.
No. It is a PDF file. You can read it on a phone, a tablet or a computer, and you can print all of it or only the worksheets on ordinary letter paper.
The button takes you to the checkout at Hotmart, the company that handles payment and delivery. After you pay, Hotmart gives you access to the PDF and sends the details to the email address you entered.
Ask for a refund within 30 days through Hotmart and your $19 is returned. You do not need to give a reason.
Some of it will. Free services are bought, renamed and closed, and prices change. I checked every service in October 2026 and the book lists the ones that have recently disappeared. The methods, such as the reception map, the channel scan and the library card, last far longer than the names.
No. Anyone who promises that is selling a box or an app that takes those programs without paying for them. That is not legal, and the FBI has warned that such boxes can carry malicious software. The book explains the risk and how to spot them.
The book is written for the United States, because the stations, rules and services are American. There is a short appendix for the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland. If you live elsewhere, most of it will not apply to you and I would not buy it.
The channels are free. Checking every service, rule and price and writing it down in the right order took a long time. You are paying for that work, once, and for nothing else.
I opened my television and radio repair shop in 1979 and spent forty years at the bench, always as an independent. People brought me sets with no picture, sets with no sound, and sets that worked fine but showed nothing, because nobody had ever told the owner how to hook them up.
These days I answer the same questions on YouTube, at Ask Stan Novak. This book is the long version of the answer I give most often.
The stations in your city are broadcasting right now. If your television is a smart one, free channels are already sitting in it. Your library may well have paid for films. The book shows you how to pick them up.
One payment. PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Questions before you buy? Write to contact@askstannovak.com.