Go to zap2it.com, put in your zip code, click TV, then select broadcast (antenna) as your provider. You’ll be amazed at how many channels you never even heard of are being broadcast in your area. And it is all because of subchanneling.
Digital allows over the air broadcasters to send out multiple channels on a single signal. So instead of channel 2, you have 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4...2-30. Yea, I have one broadcaster in my area that is sending out 30 seperate channels on a single transmission. Sure, most of it is junk, but so was most of the stuff on cable when it started.
I surmise that we're in the elite minority, Brookhaven. :-(
Aside from FNC and ESPN, all of my viewing is done over-the-air. Although I don't watch much television, the choices one gets with a proper antenna are astounding. Plus, the visual quality via broadcast is better since we don't get the compression and artifacts from pay TV providers.
Most of my enjoyment comes from the subchannels in the Dallas area, such as RTV (``Retro Television'') with some great classic shows not available elsewhere and ``This TV'', with a lineup of movies and shows such as ``The Outer Limits''. All of this is free after a small initial investment in a good antenna.
I think the people in this thread that say “there is nothing worth watching on broadcast TV” are going off the broadcast channels they are getting on cable—ABC, CBS, NBC, & Fox). Hey, I know because that was me.
I had no idea what was available until earlier this year my mom asked me to find out what would be the best antenna for her with the digital change (she is way out in the country and was having trouble getting channels). I put up the antenna for her ($40); when I had her TV rescan for channels, I thought “where the **** did all these channels come from?” She had like 35 channels in total—including a copule of sports channel, a weather channel, a couple of movie channels, and an oldie TV show channel. All of which I had never heard of.
Those four “national channels” are just the tip of the iceberg of what is being broadcast for free. There is a lot (I mean a lot) of channels being broadcast that never make it onto the local cable listings.