Yes, even without PTAT, only ONE sat tuner is used to watch or record the big 4 nets (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox). PTAT has the added feature of Auto-hop if you enable it and always recording the entire Prime Time content without ever having to think about it. You can select any recording from the PTAT to be saved as a series and it will appear in your DVR recordings list without having to go to the PTAT folder. Further, you can also create a separate timer for a Prime Time show and it will automatically be available at your DVR recordings even when PTAT is enabled.