Cutting the Cord: A device to corral all of your content

Mike Snider | USA TODAY

An over-the-air antenna is a vital component for many cord-cutters.

For those who don't know, most local TV stations broadcast at least one HDTV channel — and sometimes additional digital TV channels — that you can capture with an antenna.

Mohu Channels ($149.99, available on the the Mohu website) is a new streaming device that lets you combine those local channels with your favorite Net TV and Web content.

That means one channel down from your local ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC or PBS station on a programming guide you can have YouTube, Netflix or Hulu. And the next channel down could a news site such as CNN.com or a local website that shows video of high school football games.

"The whole premise of the product is that you don't have a cluttered guide with 500 or 600 channels, you have a guide with five or six channels," says Mohu founder and president Mark Buff. "Statistics say that's what people watch anyway."

Four years ago, Mohu began selling small flat HDTV antennas. Then last year, the company began a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to produce and market the Channels device.

Integrating the device, which became available earlier this month, into your system is fairly easy. Of course, you'll need an antenna, too, and that coaxial cable connects into the device, which is about the size of a slightly flattened soda pop can. Also included: a remote control that has a built-in keyboard.

An HDMI cable connects the Mohu Channels device to your TV input and you can connect to the Net wirelessly or using the device's Ethernet connection jack. Then, the device's tuner scans for nearby TV signals. In the Washington, D.C. area, I got about 60 including some stations in Baltimore.

The next stop is the Google Play store to add your favorite apps such as Netflix. Then, I selected the option to add a Web destination and added CNN.

I did not try this, but you will be able to add the new Sling TV service as an app. And you can go into your Amazon Instant Video account settings to add that service, too (see the YouTube tutorial here).

Adding apps or Web content is easy, too. Simply click on the big plus button at the top of the guide. And you can also edit your over-the-air channels to only display your favorites.

Like most smart TV remotes, the Mohu Channels remote takes a bit of getting used to as you use the wireless device to target on-screen choices. A few quick button pushes will also let it take over TV remote functionality, too.

Plugging a USB memory stick into the unit also gains you the ability to pause for about 30 minutes, as well as rewind and fast-forward.

That's just another way that Mohu Channels gives cord-cutters new options for customizing their home video viewing.

"Cutting the Cord" is a regular column covering Net TV and ways to get it. If you have suggestions or questions, contact Mike Snider via e-mail at msnider@usatoday.com. And follow him on Twitter: @MikeSnider.