TV Is Still Free (Part 2): Media Battles Like ABC-Cablevision Feud Could Spark FreeTV Renaissance

In Part One I described how the recent ABC-Cablevision feud that deprived three million New York Cablevision customers of ABC programming on March 7th revealed a surprising fact: The public and the media are largely unaware of the existence of free over-the-air (OTA) television alternatives to PayTV.

Although OTA television is the TV source for 11% of Americans and resides in the cultural memory of most citizens over 40, the vast majority of people seemingly have no idea they can receive programs such as American Idol and Lost via OTA-TV.

The question is “why?” It would seem that cable’s subscription costs alone would have driven a sizable proportion of its customers to explore cost-free alternatives such as OTA technologies.

Some argue that the transition to the HD antenna system confused many people and therefore discouraged them from adopting the free OTA technology. However, YouTube actually provides several tutorials on how to access OTA TV using the new HD technology. Some videos even explain how to hook up some of these new antennae to a computer and transform their laptops into a portable HD television. (Without the computer being connected to the Internet, no less!)

One instructional video, produced by two Canadian teens, provides insights into reasons behind the public’s lack of awareness of this technology. The video listed several outlandish beliefs about OTA TV. Evidently, some members of the public believe it is illegal to received free TV. Others think that OTA TV must somehow involve hacking into cable and satellite transmissions. Many assume that OTA had simply disappeared with the 2009 “changeover” to digital.

Recent discussions with several dozen intelligent and technologically-literate college-age and slightly older graduate students reveal how deeply these misconceptions permeate people’s consciousness. I asked them if they knew of any way to receive television without paying a monthly fee. Most responded that Internet websites such as HULA offered TV programs for free.

When I reminded them that access to high-speed Internet service costs at least $50 dollars a month, some sarcastically responded that you could try “borrowing” a neighbor’s Internet signal. Others suggested going to a friend’s house or a local bar to see your favorite shows for “free.”

They were surprised when I informed them that they could receive free TV transmissions by simply plugging a television set equipped with the appropriate antenna and in some cases a digital converter box. The mere mention of the word “converter” led the students to assume that the TV set owner would have to pay a monthly fee to someone. That fee, they told me, was around $12, a figure they lifted from the “basic cable” pricing scheme and magically transferred to the OTA system. I asked them who they imagined would be collecting that $12 fee: Could it be the electric company, the government, or perhaps the converter box manufacturer? Some students confided to me that they suspected that this entire OTA-TV scheme must somehow be illegal!

Most of the adults I spoke to, even those who grew up watching OTA on the old “rabbit ears” sets in the 1950s into the 1980s, were pretty sure that free OTA TV had disappeared altogether.

Such confusion about free OTA TV evaporates once a person experiences the technology first hand. It is for this reason that I agree with my local electronic store’s salesperson who contends that feuds like that between ABC and Cablevision will hurt cable companies in the long run. In the hours before the Academy Awards, several Cablevision subscribers, realizing that Cablevision had now blacked out ABC, bought out his store’s entire inventory of HD antennas and digital converter boxes. They attached the equipment to their TVs and proceeded to enjoy the Academy Awards that evening.

The store’s manager expected most of these customers to return the antennae for a refund in the days after their cable service began carrying ABC again. To his surprise, only 20% of the customers did so.

I am not surprised that they have decided to keep their antennas. They inadvertently have discovered that OTA-TV has several advantages over PayTV services. First, it’s free--no fees, no upgrade purchases! Second, barring an energy blackout, there are no service interruptions. Third, free TV ‘s high definition over-the-air picture is superior to the compressed HD signal transmitted over cable or satellite! Fourth, free OTA enables the viewer to receive CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and all local over-the-air channels, as well as UHF channels. Moreover, with the advent of the new HD format, NBC and other broadcasters have added additional services. (Some customers in LA claim to get over 70 channels.)

And there is a fifth reason, a true advantage the free TV viewer has over the Cable or DirecTV subscriber. If you are in certain geographic areas, for instance between two major cities such as New York and Philadelphia, you can most likely pick up both cities’ over-the-air network stations. For instance, someone living in certain areas of New Jersey can pick up the NY Fox outlet (Channel 5) and the Philly Fox outlet (Channel 29). Sports fans love this last advantage. On a given Sunday, the NY outlet might be carrying a NY Jets game. The Philly outlet might be carrying another national game that a NY fan might find attractive but is not carried on the NY