By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman
TV Answer Man, we just lost our Fox station on DIRECTV because the station owner wants more money. What is our alternative here? Should we get an antenna? What are the pros and cons of getting an antenna these days? Do they actually work? — Barry, Providence, Rhode Island.
Barry, DIRECTV on Sunday night lost 159 Nexstar-owned local network affiliates due to a fee fight between the companies. (The blackout also affects DIRECTV Stream and U-verse.) To see a list of the Nexstar stations, click here.
I would like to tell you that the fee fight will be settled soon but there is serious bad blood (and legal obstacles) between these two companies. To learn more about that, click here.
So, should you get an antenna in case your local Nexstar station doesn’t return in the coming weeks, or dare I say it, months? Here are some pros and cons.
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Pro: Free Local Channels
Yes, your local channels (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, Univision, etc.) are available via a TV antenna, and they are free. Not only that, they can deliver a better HD picture over an antenna compared to cable or satellite. The latter tends to compress the signals of local (and all) channels, which tends to dilute the picture quality. The TV providers do this for several reasons, including creating more system room to deliver more channels. The signal your antenna receives directly from the local channel is purer (layman’s term, folks and therefore a better one.
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Con: No Basic Cable or Premium Channels
If you get an antenna, you won’t be able to watch ESPN, TBS, E!, CNN, Fox News, HBO, Showtime, or your favorite regional sports channel. The TV antenna will only pick up signals that are distributed locally, and that does not include the basic cable or premium channels that are on many viewers’ list of favorites.
Pro: Antennas Are Not Expensive
The TV antenna, whether it’s indoor or outdoor, costs less than $100 with many indoor models well under $30. With local channels free, that’s a great deal for consumers looking to cut expenses. (Note: The outdoor antenna can normally pick up more channels than the indoor one. But indoor antennas are becoming more efficient every year with new models and new technology.)
Con: The Antenna May Not Work at Your Location
Before you run off to buy an antenna, you need to know that depending upon the location of your home, your antenna may not be able to pick up the signals of all your local channels. You may live too far away from the channel’s tower to get a decent signal, or you could have a major obstacle in the signal’s path, such as a high-rise office building or mountain.
Also, since the nation’s transition to Digital TV in 2008, many antenna owners complain that it’s been more difficult to capture local signals. Unlike the old analog signal, you need a perfect connection to capture the digital signal or it will not display on your set. There is no middle ground. You either get a digital signal or you don’t.
So how can you tell if an antenna at your home will receive all your local channels?
AntennaWeb.org, a web site co-sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association and the National Broadcasting Association, offers an easy-to-use guide to determining what kind of antenna you would need — and how many channels that antenna will pick up. You type in your address, zip code and whether the antenna will be 30 feet or higher above ground level and then antennaweb.org will display a list of stations that you probably will be able to receive.
I say ‘probably’ because until you actually test it at home, you can’t be 100 percent sure. Antennaweb.org might say your address can pick up all four major broadcast networks, but the site isn’t aware of that group of large trees that surround your home, or that high-rise building that sits all too inconveniently across the way.
The good news here is that antennas are inexpensive so you could buy one to test without spending much.
Pro: You May Get Some Bonus Channels
In addition to the major networks (CBS, etc.), there are numerous independent channels that broadcast locally. Some feature old movies and TV shows while others specialize in niche categories such as religion. If your antenna signal is strong, you’ll get more programming than you might have expected.
Pro: The Technology Is Improving
As noted earlier, in the last few years, the antenna companies have done a great job of beefing up their products, offering indoor antennas that can pick up signals as far away as 75 miles. Yes, indoor antennas. If you had a bad experience with an antenna several years ago, you might be pleasantly surprised at how far they have come.
Barry, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
There are plenty of other stations available. My inside antenna does a good job, although I may have to adjust it when I change channels. I support DTV on this issue.
Where does that idea come from that cable compress the tv station video even more then the tv stations? Television stations, add as many as 6 sub-channels to their main HDTV channel which takes quite a bit of bandwidth away from the main HDTV channel resulting in over-compressed lower-quality HDTV video.
I have recordings made at the start of the HDTV era before sub-channels were added, and the data rate tv stations for HDTV were much higher then it is today, as much, as doubled, also the data rate, was the same in both modes either over the air, or on cable. I believe further research on your part, would bear this out.
I’m a DTV Streaming customer and I lost one local channel in the dispute. (Fox) I purchased an indoor antenna for $30 (net $20 after the $10 credit that DTV is giving us.). I’m able to get all my local channels that are located about 50 miles away with the added bonus of getting the local independent and secondary channels that my DTV package does not have. Using the input button on the remote that came with my TV I’m able to switch between the antenna and my DTV box.
In all the pros and cons listed in this article, the author failed to point out that this is not an either/or problem. We’ve only lost one or two channels, not the entire package!
The only real downside in all of this is that I can’t record,pause or backup that one station.
Buy a Tablo DVR box with a over the air antenna – I use it as a back up for when the company’s pull this crap… It cost me $5.00 per month for the guide and works well…