Help for the Tens of Millions of TV Viewers That Use Antennas

Last week, CEA issued a press release announcing in-house research that concluded that 7% of American TV households rely solely on an antenna for access to television programming. NAB was quick to respond that the CEA study was at odds with a recent more independently conducted study that found a much higher percentage of over-the-air usage. The percentage of the U.S. population that relies on over-the-air broadcasting for access to television service has been used by various advocacy groups over the years to challenge the relevance of broadcasting service in favor of other uses for broadcast spectrum. CEA falls into this category, pointedly indicating in their press release that “this study provides yet another reason why it is time for broadcast spectrum to be reallocated, and quickly,” perhaps offering a reason for some skepticism about the research.

NAB indicated that a neutral and credible survey on broadcast-only homes is performed annually by The Home Technology Monitor, a syndicated research service from the GfK Media and Entertainment Group (formerly Knowledge Networks). Based on a statistically representative sample of the full U.S. population, their survey released in June 2013 showed that 19.3% of U.S. TV homes (roughly 22 million households or 59.7 million people) receive TV programming exclusively via over-the-air broadcast antennas, compared to 17.4% in 2012, 15% in 2011 and 14% in 2010. The survey also showed significant growth in broadcast-only TV reception capability over the past few years among minority populations (22% of African-Americans versus 12% in 2010), younger adults (28% with a head of household between 18 and 24 versus 18% in 2010), and lower income households (30% of homes with annual income under $30,000 compared to 22% in 2010).

It’s also well known that many homes that subscribe to a pay-TV service also have 2nd and 3rd TV sets that are not connected to the pay-TV service but do have antennas connected for broadcast TV reception. In addition, some TV sets that are connected to pay services also have antennas connected, either as a backup in the case of pay-TV service failure, a backstop against forgetting to pay the monthly bill, or for access to broadcast programs that are not carried by the pay-TV provider. If all these situations are added together, the number of additional TV sets actually connected to over-the-air antennas is many tens of millions.

Regardless of how many millions of viewers use antennas, it ought to be easy for consumers to get general information about TV antennas and to find out what type of antenna would be appropriate for them. There is good news on this front. Several organizations have recently launched online informational programs to help consumers get their free TV.

Mohu, a North Carolina-based antenna manufacturer that began selling its “Leaf” indoor antenna in 2011, launched a new web-based “TV-For-Free” tool last week to help consumers discover what local broadcast channels are available to them over-the-air. After entering a zip code or address in the opening screen (shown below), the program returns a channel list and a map showing the transmitter locations. The total number of stations accessible from that location changes by selecting either an indoor or outdoor antenna from Mohu.

In mid-July, long-time antenna manufacturer Channel Master also launched an antenna selection tool accessible at www.antennachoice.com. Entering an address at the website returns a list of antennas from the manufacturer that will work at that location. The Channel Master tool is powered by Broadcast Interactive Media, which is also the developer of the CEA/NAB sponsored www.antennaweb.org antenna selection website (now also available as an app on LG Smart TVs – see July 1, 2013 TV TechCheck).

The 2013 BEC Proceedings feature select technical papers on the most recent developments in broadcast technology. Important topics covered include: IP for Television and Radio, Next Generation Television Broadcasting, Audience Measurement Technologies and AM Band Revitalization. Learn More and Purchase here.

The August 5, 2013 TV TechCheck is also available in an Adobe Acrobat file. Please click here to read the Adobe Acrobat version of TV TechCheck.