Ready to cut your cable? West Easton is in a good location to receive free Over The Air (OTA) Digital broadcasts. OTA has been available before 2009, the year the Federal Government actually required all broadcasters to switch from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting. But, don’t expect all your cable channels to be available with free digital broadcasts. I’m happy with it, but it isn’t for everyone. Especially if you’re addicted to a particular cable channel that won’t be available, if you cut your cable.

The benefit of the mandated switch to digital broadcasting to consumers was free over-the-air television with great reception. The transition from analog to digital television has been described by David Rehr, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, as representing “the most significant advancement of television technology since color TV was introduced.” For full-power TV stations, the transition went into effect on Friday June 12, 2009, with stations ending regular programming on their analog signals no later than 11:59 pm local time that day.

For those of us that remember the days of analog, when Dad had us climb onto the roof and turn the antenna, or tin foil in odd shapes were added to the “rabbit ears” of televisions, we’ve come a long way.  Trying to improve a poor analog signal only succeeded in watching television with slightly less snowy images and fewer “ghosts.”

Cable television in the United States began in 1949 and made its way into the suburbs of the middle class by the 1960’s. People were willing to pay a few extra dollars to have a crisp, clear picture of analog stations. Cable quickly expanded in content and increased in price. We paid those increases, because the only alternative was to go back to snow and ghosts.

Now, cable TV will cost a customer almost $700/yr for a basic subscription plan. Upgrading a plan to include additional digital converter boxes for every TV you own, sports packages, and all the movie channels can result in a cost of more than $1500/yr.  Sure, you can save a couple of hundred on an introductory offer, but that plan will expire and your monthly charge will continue to climb.

Luckily, we live in a decent area for digital reception. A top-end digital antenna with a signal amplifier, and an antenna rotator can bring in stations from not only Allentown and Scranton, but also from New Jersey, New York, and Delaware.

And digital reception in not the same as analog. No ghosts or snow, though weaker signals might pixelize an image on occasions.

Using the best antenna setup will allow you to receive about 30 stations. Eliminating those that you may not want (Spanish language, Bible broadcasts, cartoons, etc.) will leave you with the following:

3.1 (WCBS) CBS Programming
3.2 (CBSPLUS) Philadelphia News & Sports
7.1 (WABC) ABC programming
10.1 (WNBC) NBC Programming
16.1 (WNEP) Scranton/Wilkes-Berre/Hazelton
16.2 (WNEP2) NEPA News
35.1 (MIND) Independent Broadcasting
35.2 (NHKWORLD) English speaking television & news from Asia
35.3 (FRANCE24) English speaking television & news from France
35.4 (RT) English speaking television & news from Russia
39.1 (WLVT-DT) PBS, BBC News, and other programs.
39.4 (CREATE) Cooking, home repair, gardening programs
43.1 (NJTV) Various Public Programming from NJ. This is an analog station given a 5 year grace from shutdown.
44.1 (WVIA) Public Broadcasting
44.2 (WVIA2)
44.3 (WVIA-DT) Broadcasts CREATE TV programming
69.1 (WFMZ-HD) Allentown programming and local news
69.2 (WFMZ-AW) 24/7 Accuweather channel
69.3 (WFMZ-ME) Memorable Entertainment. Classic shows from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s
69.4 (WFMZ-RT) Retro Television. More classic shows from decades past.

CLICK HERE to find out how to install your own digital antenna and watch free television.