You may have to fiddle with the antenna, direction wise and near-outside-wall wise, but I have a few friends who all claim they get great HDTV reception from a dopey antenna, practically a bare wire. Watch, Salvation Army thrift stores will now become cool places to shop for used rabbit ears from the fifties.
I haven't subscribed to cable since 1992, for two reasons:
1) I don't watch nearly enough TV to justify the monthly expense, and
2) I resent the legal extortion perpetrated by cable/satellite companies which suggests that I have to "pay a reasonable fee" for broadcast channels.
I'm gonna utter a little blasphemy here...there's more to life than TV.
“You may have to fiddle with the antenna, direction wise...”
I have a vague memory of a friend’ house growing up that had a dial near the TV that would rotate the antenna up in the attic/roof to get the best reception.