Demystifying overthe-air-broadcasting
Campaign touts use, benefits of antennas that deliver TV for free amid rising costs
As inflation puts pressure on household budgets, consumers are taking a closer look at how much they spend on subscription streaming services.
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.
In August, 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 has begun 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.
“We’re sitting at a moment in time where there is more pressure on the consumer’s pocketbook than ever,” Symson said in a recent interview. “We’re reading every day about ‘plus fatigue.’ Consumers are frustrated by the fact they have five video streaming subscriptions, and they are not sure what value they are getting out of them.”
The buzziest and critic-lauded scripted shows are now on streaming services, but broadcast is still the home of the bulk of NFL football games — the most watched content on any platform — and other major sporting events, including Major League Baseball’s World Series, the
NBA Finals, Triple Crown horse racing and the NHL’s Stanley Cup. All air on the major broadcast networks, which reach nearly every home in the U.S. with their signals.
“The only place cord-cutters and cord-nevers can watch live sports for free is going to be on over-the-air television,” Symson noted. “Free is an incredibly compelling consumer proposition.”
While major broadcast networks are neglected by critics and Emmy voters, they still offer first-run episodes of some of the most popular series on television, including “NCIS” and “Ghosts” on CBS, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and the inexhaustible “Law and Order” franchises on NBC.
A study conducted earlier this year by research firm Screen Engine/ASI found that 68% of all consumers consider the major networks a “must-have.” The number rises to 79% among antenna users.
TV antenna usage is already on the upswing. The Consumer Technology Association says
32% of U.S. households own a TV antenna, up from 26% in 2019. The CTA expects the number of antenna-using homes to reach 50 million by 2025 as more consumers cut the pay-TV cord.
Many of the new antenna
customers are using them to pull in broadcast stations not offered in their markets by virtual multichannel video program distributors such as YouTubeTV, Hulu Live, Frndly TV or Sling. Some consumers own antennas as a contingency in the event their cable or satellite company gets into a carriage fee dispute with a TV station and takes it off its system.
Promoting antenna use clearly benefits the TV stations Scripps owns, but there is a public service element to the campaign as well. TV stations need to preserve their role as news sources in their communities, especially at a time when many local newspapers have folded or scaled back operations. What’s more, when internet or cellular service goes out during a severe weather event or other catastrophes, broadcast TV stays on the air.
“People turn to us,” Symson said. “If you don’t have a way to get us, that’s going to be a problem. We feel a responsibility to reach consumers on every platform, but particularly on broadcast television.”
A majority of antenna users are older, having grown up watching TV that pulled in signals with
rabbit ears sitting atop a set or an aerial antenna on a roof. For younger consumers — many of whom have cut the cord, never signed up for cable or don’t even own a TV set — over-the-air broadcasting can be a mystery.
“We’ve done a lot of research on this, and there is even a certain portion of the American audience that believes mistakenly that plugging in a digital antenna is piracy,” Symson said.
Screen Engine/ASI found viewers underestimate the number of channels they can receive with an antenna, with many still recalling the analog TV era when far fewer stations were available.
The switch from analog to digital signals in 2009 allowed for the creation of more over-the-air channels (called sub channels). But a 2021 study by Horowitz Research found that only 20% of non-antenna users believed they could receive more than 20 channels.
Karlo Maalouf, owner of Mr. Antenna, a Las Vegas company that specializes in installing overthe-air antennas, welcomes the education effort.
“It’s a confusing environment right now,” said Maalouf, who noted that he rarely gets customers younger than 40.