Report: 1 in 5 US Homes Have an Over-the-Air Antenna; Should You Get One to Cut the Cord?

It can be really hard to know how to watch TV these days. It used to be incredibly simple; flip on the set, turn the dial (yes, there used to be physical dials) and fiddle with the antenna until you found the best signal possible. But times have certainly changed, and new data from Parks Associates which shows just 20% of homes in the United States now have an over-the-air (OTA) antenna.

• A further 12% of users are planning to buy an antenna in the next six months.
• Antennas can be used to watch local broadcast channels that live TV streaming services sometimes don’t carry.
• Most antennas can be purchased for less than $40, and some allow users to receive and play signal broadcast in Ultra-High-Definition 4K.

What Does an Antenna Do?

Millennials and Gen Z-ers who grew up with cable and satellite may not even know what the device is used for anymore. That’s not anything to be ashamed of; the advent of streaming and spread of smart TVs has given users users more and more ways to watch TV that don’t require an antenna.

Those who do own an antenna tend to watch TV with it pretty frequently, according to the data from Parks Associates. Antenna owners report watching more than six hours of TV every week with the device, second only to subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Max or Prime Video in terms of total watching time per week.

“The percentage of antenna owners has remained steady over the last few years, creating a stable audience for broadcasters at a time when they are losing revenues from lost retransmission fees as consumers abandon pay TV for streaming services,” said Alan Bullock, Sr. Contributing Analyst, Parks Associates.

For the 12% of customers who Parks says will purchase a TV antenna in the next six months, it’s a good idea to be aware of what antennas can do, and what they can’t do. The most important function of a TV antenna is to deliver you local channels broadcast in your area, such as affiliates of PBS, ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC.

That makes having an antenna ideal for customers of live TV streaming services like Sling TV and Philo. These streamers cost $40 per month or less and offer some of the most popular cable channels, but Sling only carries local affiliates in a handful of markets, and Philo does not offer locals on any plan in any area. Antennas are also useful for making sure channels don’t go off the air in cases of retransmission disputes between providers and station owners, like the current dispute between DIRECTV and TEGNA.

Antennas also pick up some digital channels, and you can see which channels are available with an antenna in your particular market by following this link to the FCC’s DTV reception map page. There, you can enter your zip code and be shown all the channels an antenna would pick up in your area.

There are even some antennas that allow you to not only watch live TV over-the-air, but record broadcast TV to watch on-demand any time! The new Tablo antenna, for example, lets you watch, pause, and record live broadcasts from up to two OTA channels from the included 35-mile range indoor TV antenna.

There’s no need to worry about the old “rabbit ears” style of antenna sitting atop your flatscreen TVs. You can get very slick indoor antennas that lie flat against a wall. Or you can choose an outdoor solution if you’d like.

Antennas do have some limitations. They don’t offer you the ability to watch cable channels like ESPN, which are only available with pay-TV subscriptions. They also only pick up stations in your geographic area, so distance limits your viewing abilities with an antenna.

Should You Give an Antenna for Christmas?

If you know someone affected by the aforementioned dispute between TEGNA and DIRECTV, the answer is definitely yes. Doing so will allow them to receive their locals and not have to worry about canceling their service to try and find a new live TV streamer, which is always a hassle.

Having an antenna at home will save you if your TV service provider gets into a fight with the channel owners. (It happens more often than you’d think.) It will also let you watch TV if you have unreliable internet since the antenna doesn’t require internet connectivity to work.

Users who enjoy live NFL and college football games will also want to look into an antenna. All games appearing on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in your market will be available via antenna, and you won’t have to worry about streaming lag times causing the action on the screen to be delayed. If you lose your connection to cable or a live TV streamer during your Super Bowl party, an antenna provides the ultimate backup.

We recommend these antenna choices if they’re right for you or the TV fan on your shopping list!