The HDTV antenna is all over the place these days. Now that the switch has been made from analog to digital broadcasting a lot of people are wondering… If you already have satellite or cable… Is it worth the hassle? It IS a few extra bucks and then you have to set it up and everything, so… How about it? Is it worth it?

Yes, and here’s why…

Free TV!

Well you pay a little money up front for the antenna itself, but after that, it’s totally one hundred percent free to watch television with it (unless you wanna get technical and discuss how much in electricity you’re using to keep your HDTV on in the first place!). The television is broadcast totally for free, twenty four hours a day (unless your local station still does the Indian Head thing at three in the morning). In the middle of a recession, who on Earth can afford to pass up free programming?

Local Color

Whatever happened to hometown pride? It seems like more and more the entire western world, and beyond, is being homogenized. Everything’s the same these days, everywhere you go. You could drive from New York to Texas and eat at the same restaurants, stay in the same hotels, and watch the same television shows in every single city on the way from point A to point B. The local programming is practically all a city has that makes it unique anymore. Fewer and fewer towns have “That great mom and pop steak joint down the street” anymore. With a hundred channels, you get all the new shows you want to see, but you don’t get to notice that the weatherman shops at the same grocery store as you.

The Complete Package

You can get some local programming through cable and satellite providers, but… Usually, they want you to pay extra. You may be saying to yourself “well what’s the difference between that and the cost of an antenna?” Well… An antenna typically costs less than what the providers want you to pay on a monthly basis, so… You can either pay every month for these channels, or pay once. It’s your call.

It’s Real, True HD

Many people assume that the free stuff you can get via an antenna won’t come in as true HD. This isn’t the case. The fact is, airwaves can broadcast a more full signal than cable can, so you do, in fact, get full, true hi def with a HDTV antenna. It’s just as crisp and clear as that new HD DVD you just bought.

It’s A Lot of Fun

Really, as great as it is to have hundreds of channels to choose from, it’s just plain fun getting free TV out of thin air. There’s a nostalgic factor to it, an old fashioned charm to watching television the way we did when we were growing up. Of course, fortunately, it’s usually quite a bit easier to pick up programming with an HDTV antenna than it was with the old bunny ears.

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