Last year, I wrote a post illustrating that while most people spend a lot of money on cable or satellite TV, the most popular shows are broadcast over-the-air (OTA) for free.
That is still true today as indicated by last week’s ratings. The top 10 over-the-air shows each had over 13 million viewers, while the most watched cable program (Nickelodeon’s 2009 Kids’ Choice Awards) had less than 8 million viewers:
The Best Shows
To be fair, I should point out that the most popular shows are not necessarily the best shows. I was surprised my favorite program, 24, did not make the Top 10.
In my opinion, 24, which is broadcast for free over-the-air on FOX, is the best show airing today by far. While it is mostly a hi-tech show, there was an episode recently that featured a low-tech technique. When the White House was under siege, the president’s daughter attempted to signal the FBI outside using Morse code with a flashlight. Unfortunately, she was stopped before the message could be fully transmitted.
I just started watching 24 this season. Unlike Lost, a show that does not make any sense as far as I can tell, 24 is easy to catch up with and jump right into. Each episode begins with previous scenes setting up the current week’s episode. The action-packed plots are outrageous, but in a good way. The exciting far-fetched storylines remind me of Clive Cussler books.
Digital TV
The ongoing conversion to digital television is another reason to switch to free TV. New televisions or converter boxes include Info or EPG (electronic program guide) buttons that provide program information and/or schedules similar to what can be seen with cable and satellite paid subscription services.
Additionally, there are now many more channels available via free, over-the-air television. While some friends used to like to joke about how I only got a handful of stations, I now receive 48 digital stations free of charge.
There is some duplication of channels in different markets, but that sometimes offers more viewing flexibility. For example, Baltimore NBC 11 shows Ellen at 3:00p, whereas DC NBC 4 broadcasts Ellen at 2:00p.
I also now get extra PBS channels (4 WETA channels + 3 MPT channels), International channels (10 MHz Worldview channels), several weather channels, a couple cartoon channels, a couple classic TV channels (Retro Television Network and ThisTV nostalgia network), and NBC’s Universal Sports channel.
The cable companies and FIOS companies have been spending a lot of money on advertisements competing for subscribers. They may need to worry less about each other and more about free TV. Free digital television should appeal to many people, especially during a severe recession.
Yahoo.com has a good television listing site which you can customize to see what is airing on free OTA channels in your area. 08/19 Update: I’ve found this antenna from Terk to be a great antenna for DTV:
10 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] generally not a Jon Stewart fan and cannot watch his show anyway because I do not subscribe to cable tv. However, I am pleased that he did not think the Kindle is a good [...]
[...] The Case for Free TV [...]
[...] the NBC coverage on free TV, I liked the story of Tom McCarthy, a retiree who now owns/trains a General Quarters. In a race [...]
[...] I live 40+ miles from DC and Baltimore television stations, yet can get up to 48 stations free over-the-air with this antenna. At $30, I think it is well worth a try before going through the hassle of a [...]
[...] bit of television, but think it is definitely possibly to have too much of a good thing. Watching free tv over-the-air is the perfect compromise between giving up tv entirely and paying for hundreds of [...]
[...] I was unconcerned about the analog cutoff on June 12th as I had been watching digital channels for several months [...]
[...] The Case for Free TV [...]
[...] Also: The Case for Free TV This was written by admin. Posted on Monday, October 26, 2009, at 10:46 pm. Filed under [...]
[...] online for free. But yet, millions of people continue to pay for subscription services like HBO. Free over-the-air tv has come along way since only having a few channels and I think most people will be able to find [...]
[...] I was watching an interesting segment on Al Jazeera-English television the other day. Al Jazeera-English is is one of ten worldview tv stations I pick up on free over-the-air tv. [...]
Post a Comment