OTA TV Antennas Regaining Popularity

As inflation puts pressure on household budgets, consumers are taking a closer look at how much they spend on subscription streaming services, reports The L-A Times.

One way to bring that cost down is adopting the original TV technology — over-the-air antennas that capture broadcast signals without a connection to a cable box, satellite dish or internet. The monthly price for watching is the same as it was when RCA Chairman David Sarnoff flipped the switch on the first commercial TV station at the 1939 New York World’s Fair: free.

But many Americans who grew up with cable TV and streaming don’t realize that free over-the-air broadcasting exists or understand how it works.

E.W. Scripps, the Cincinnati-based media company that owns 61 TV stations nationwide, is out to change that.

The company is spending $20 million this year on an unusual education and marketing campaign to help consumers understand the use and benefits of over-the-air antennas at a time when managing their TV sources is more complex than ever.

This month, Scripps launched a website — TheFreeTVProject.org — where users can type in their ZIP Codes to learn what stations they can get for free in their area with an antenna. In Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest TV market, antenna users can receive more than 160 free broadcast channels.

The site also explains how broadcast TV works and offers information on what type of antenna works best, based on the user’s geographical location. Not every antenna works in every area, and the one-time cost can range from $20 for an indoor antenna to $149 for outdoor models that require installation on a rooftop.

Scripps began airing cheeky 30-second TV spots that will run in cities where the company owns stations. It also will place ads on social media sites, outdoor billboards and connected TV streaming platforms, hoping to reach the cord-cutters or cord-nevers who don’t use an antenna.

Adam Symson, chief executive of Scripps, believes the combination of economic uncertainty and a scrambled TV landscape where streaming service prices are creeping up creates an opportunity to get more consumers to add over-the-air broadcasting to their viewing diet.