NFL is coming ! If you have a game console, you may already have most of the hardware you need to enjoy free local TV content. If you want to watch NFL games 2018 live online without cable via your gaming console this post only for you.

Xbox

Microsoft recently partnered up with Hauppauge. Hauppauge interfaces directly with the Xbox operating system – so you don’t need any extra software to use it. Once you plug in your Hauppauge, you can use Xbox One’s built-in TV guide to watch local TV broadcasts.

The main weakness of the Hauppauge Xbox One tuner is that it doesn’t offer a recording solution.

In my opinion, a better alternative to the Hauppauge tuner is HDHomeRun. With an HDHomeRun tuner and the HDHomeRun Xbox One app, you can buy into HDHomeRun’s $35-a-year recording feature.

You can’t record directly to Xbox One with HDHomeRun, but if you have extra hard drive space on your PC you can use that to record your shows. If you don’t have enough room on your PC for TV recordings, you can get a NAS (Network Attached Storage) and use it instead.

PlayStation

If you have a PS3 or PS4, HDHomeRun is the only way to get OTA TV. The PlayStation Store doesn’t have a dedicated HDHomeRun app, but you can still access HDHomeRun TV channels via PlayStation’s Media Player app.

Nvidia Shield

Nvidia Shield is a streaming device for hardcore PC gamers. With an Nvidia Shield and a high powered gaming PC, you can stream games from your computer to your living room TV set – and if you connect a Hauppauge or HDHomeRun TV tuner, you can get live TV as well.

Because Nvidia Shield runs Android and comes with Google Play, there are many software options to consider once you plug in your OTA TV hardware.

Perhaps the cheapest option for playing OTA TV streams is the media player known as Kodi. Kodi is totally free and has built-in DVR functionality. Another thing about Kodi is that there are hundreds of add-ons that you can get for it that enhance its technology.

But if you have a Nvidia Shield, you should forget Kodi and get SPMC instead. SPMC is identical to Kodi, but it runs better on Nvidia Shield – plus it has features that the Kodi app lacks like passthrough audio and voice recognition capability. The reason why SPMC is so similar to the Kodi app is that it was created by the same guy – a developer called Koyling. Koyling split away from the Kodi team last year to focus on SPMC. Like Kodi, SPMC is totally free.

If you’re willing to invest in a Plex Pass subscription ($4.99/mo, $39.99/year, $149.99/lifetime) you may want to go with Plex for Android instead. Plex is very similar to Kodi and SPMC, only it can do more when it comes to OTA TV. With a Plex Pass, you can turn your Nvidia Shield into a Plex Server and use it to stream OTA TV channels to all your devices.