How do I watch live TV? Explain to me in simple terms!

[Bigredpants]

Have just been googling but am still slightly baffled. I have not watched live TV for a few years.
I have just bought a TV and a licence after years with just Netflix etc on tablets.
I bought a Samsung Frame TV which I will mainly have on Art Mode (Matt screen with wooden frame mounted on the wall). There is a box I can connect to a TV provider. There is an arial point on the other side of the room so I could get a long wire and plug that in as there is an arial in the attic.
The TV installers said I could avoid that by getting a digital box such as a Sky ‘puck’. But I would like to avoid a subscription service as I don’t think I will watch TV that much. Do I need to buy some sort of freeview box? I saw online I can buy one for £229 that allows pause and record. I just want to watch occasional live channels such as BBC and ITV.
Every retail site seems so complicated! I just need a free channels box I think.
I have TalkTalk Super fibre 900mbps and already pay for Netflix. I can’t work out what TalkTalk TV is or how much extra it costs. Their site is rubbish.
Can anyone recommend an easy set up box I can buy that will let me just watch some live channels without having to faff about with fitting a long wire across my living room or paying monthly? Thanks.

Which TV apps do you have built into your frame tv? BBC iPlayer, ITV X and channel 4 apps all have the option to view live tv on them. Not sure about channel 5 app.

When we moved into our house, the previous people had had Sky TV so there was no aerial. We have a Smart TV and so watched IPlayer etc via the Internet. Then DS2 came to visit and pointed out that we could just plug our TV into the connection for the Sky dish
and get all the Free view channels without paying a subscription.

Obviously this solution only works with a satellite dish. But I think you can get some sort of Free view box which allows you to watch TV. To be honest, we found the Internet fine, it just wasn't quite as easy to channel surf.

I think every single tv has built in free view now, so you just need to plug it in to an ariel point and tune it to pick up the channels.

I have a TV, no Freeview box and can see pretty much every Freeview channel plus the terrestrial ones by plugging the aerial into the TV and tuning the TV. That was literally all I did, am I missing something with plug in this and buy this and that box? granted I'm middle aged Luddite but that works for me.

If your TV is quite new it should have Freeview built in. You'll need to plug into the serial, then select guide and choose your channel, that's all!

Exactly.

If the TV point is on the wrong side of the room you can (on a temporary basis) just run a coax lead between the TV and the point as that will prove that everything is working ok.
When you know it is ok then you just need to get a new TV point installed, should easy enough for a competent DIY'er, electrician or aerial engineer.

Thanks all. So basically I need to connect to the aerial point. Annoyingly I remember throwing away a massive long aerial lead when I moved house as I thought it would be obsolete!
NeW TV doesn’t have iPlayer as an option when I turn it on. I do have a Firestick someone gave me but not sure what that does either.
There is no satellite point. I thought there must be a digital box I could buy. The new TV is so lovely and uncluttered it’s a shame to have to run a bulky wire around the room. Am determined to at least watch a few things after spending 169 on the licence though!
I feel old. When I was a girl there were 3 channels!

I bet you can install iPlayer on your TV, it'd be extremely weird to have a new one that can't. Find its app store, it'll be free in there.

But if not, you can get a Chromestick or an Apple TV or Amazon Firestick and install iPlayer etc on that.

Worst case you can get a long aerial cable, yes.

Sorry to confuse. But we have Freeview on a smart TV and no aerial or box. It comes in via the WiFi over broadband, so excellent signal. Don't ask me how to do it though, DH is a techy and he sorted it out!

Connect your TV to the aerial socket - this will give you access to broadcast freeview / free to air television.

You would need to select the appropriate ‘source’or ‘input’ which would tend to cycle through options such as HDMI, AV, TV etc

For aerial TV you will need to select the source (probably ‘TV’) and then scan for channels. The setup manual should guide you through this, and bear in mind that you may need to periodically rescan for new or changed frequencies

For smart TV functions giving built in or addable apps such as iPlayer, and perhaps Netflix etc then the menu options may have SmartTV, apps etc. But first you need to connect the TV to the internet, either by WiFi or by Ethernet cable to your internet router
If conveniently placed an Ethernet cable to the router is best, otherwise you need to confgure a wifi connection in the TVs menu options to join your WiFi network
Once the TV is connected to the internet you can then run each app and log in to each as applicable

Failing the above you can also connect a device such as an Amazon fire stick to an HDMI port in the TV (if the TV also has USB sockets you may be able to power the device from the TV rather than plugging into the mains
Then set the TVs input source to the HDMi 1,2 etc depending on which you plugged the device into and then log into the device

Thanks all. It’s looking like running an Ariel lead is the best solution.
I wanted to be able to see what is on via a schedule rather than just browsing apps.
I have realised I don’t know how to spell Ariel. It wants to default to that mermaid.

You shouldn't need a separate box as all TVs now have Freeview installed and most TVs are smart so can link to the internet so you can watch iPlayer etc. All I I do to watch live TV is switch on the TV and use the remote to choose the channel.
You will of course need to connect your TV to a working Ariel . Are you sure you have a digital Ariel and not old style analogue one. As that wouldn't work. If you don't have a digital Ariel you will need a box of some sort

www.samsung.com/uk/tvs/personalize-my-tv/?sku=QE55LS03DAUXXU&type=apps&option

A Samsung frame should come with a number of apps pre installed, then all you need to do is connect the TV to your broadband connection. You don't need any aerial connections.

You don't need an aerial. Samsung TVs dont come loaded with Freeview, you just go to the app store, download Freeview and start using it.

The advantage of using an aerial is that if your broadband is playing up for some reason you can still watch broadcast TV. The reverse is also true - if weather conditions are disrupting the broadcast, you can watch on the internet.

Once you've shoved the lead ('coaxial') from the aerial socket into the TV, you can set it up to tune in the broadcast channels and then just watch. A 'digibox' or ' set top box' will let you record broadcast programs when you are out, or while you are watching a different channel, to watch later. Very useful, specially if you can't connect to the relevant iPlayer app for the station you want for some reason. Be careful to get a Freeview one rather than Freestat if you have an aerial not a dish. They cost about £25 upwards from places like Currys, Amazon or Argos.

I find that the signal via the box is more prone to disruption in poor weather than just watching TV direct, but we do have a complicated setup running through several boxes and TVs.

If you have a long enough coaxial cable, can you run it along the wall round the room and tuck it under the edge of the carpet to make it tidy?

(Edited to add box prices)

Thanks so much for these updates. Was about to go out and buy a 25m coaxial cable but not sure now.
I will play about with the TV and see if I can get what I want by connecting to Freeview.
The arial in the loft is probably as old as the house so 20 years old. It will be an absolute bugger to run a cable as it will be over carpet and past a door.
I love the TV though. I have it on art mode all the time and it’s wonderful. A private gallery of changing art 😍