Over The Air Television Is On The Rise In L.A.

Rabbit ears are coming back as residents in southern California are ditching cable for the cheaper antenna alternative.

It’s been a long time since many of us have watched broadcast television that’s actually being broadcasted. Cable and satellite services have dominated TV watching for years.

According to the San Jose Mercury news, the over the air tradition is coming back, especially with minority viewers. 20,000 Asian-American homes in the Los Angeles area are currently getting TV through antennas, and another 8,000 African American homes. Nearly a quarter of Latino homes get TV the old fashioned way. That’s around 440,000 homes, and over a million people.

There are over seventy over the air channels available in L.A., around half of which are in English. The rest are aimed at Latino, Asian, and Eastern European viewers. Around a dozen of the channels broadcast are in high definition, and viewers state that the clarity of signal is impressive.

While some users are using the over the air signal as their primary source of entertainment, others supplement that with services like Netflix and Hulu. “It's the best-kept secret around here,” says Orange Country resident Mike Mahan.

Source: Mercury News

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