[zikzak]

When I was, I guess, grade 5 a kid showed up at school with a "TV watch". It didn't require extra connections, it tuned in OTA broadcast TV (basically CBC, at the time). This would have been in the early 80s.

I have no idea where he go the watch or how. They were a lower income family and lived in very modest circumstances but he always had the latest and greatest, brought it to school, caused a huge commotion, and would have the device taken away (think personal sized PacMan consoles, sling shots, those robot toys, etc).

It did work. The way it was used was a ton of kids would crowd around this guy and watch a grainy, poorly rendered, CBC program with faint sound (I recall a headphone jack), and we marveled at how cool it was that he could watch TV at school. Unfortunately, nothing interesting would ever be on, and the teacher took it away immeadiately.