Take back control of your TV and your wallet with High Definition

A small but committed group of people here in Maine are taking back control of their TVs and their wallets through High Definition Television received over the air.

Back in the day, when broadcast television was first invented and until the advent of cable TV and satellite, we relied on our TV antennas. They were either attached to the TV inside the house or attached to the rooftop outside the house. This was analog TV; the reception was sketchy, the picture often grainy and while it was a breakthrough invention in its day, Over the Air TV was almost non-existent as we reached the 1990’s.

Now, because the FCC had the foresight to ensure that network television broadcasters maintain free transmission over the air, High Definition television can be received in your home FOR FREE.

For those of you that don’t know, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox, the CW, and MyNetwork are already broadcasting digital signals in addition to their analog signals. If your local affiliate is not yet doing that, it will be soon, and must by February 17, 2009. If you have a High Definition TV, a High Definition “Ready” TV (with a converter), or an old Analog TV with an even different converter, you can already receive these signals.

I stopped paying my cable company about 8 months ago. My monthly bill for just cable TV with all the add-ons you are required to to pay for to receive High Definition from them, cost me about $118 dollars a month. I already bought my HD TV, so I got rid of all my cable equipment, bought a UHF/VHF antenna (a one-time investment of about $65) and now I get all the HD programming I need FOR FREE, I HAVE NO CABLE BILL.

Now, with this commitment, I also committed to giving up some of the extras that I realized I don’t really need. Like the Food Network, and Comedy Central, and all of those channels I enjoyed, but were not paramount to my survival. There are so few non-broadcast networks (cable only) that are in HD that I realized I wasn’t missing much. I receive all of the big 7 networks (except Fox in my area but that’s another story and I will receive it soon) in digital format FOR FREE. Network TV only broadcasts certain shows in full HD format, usually primetime programming. The exeption to that is The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, and The Young and the Restless.

I, and others, have decided not to pay our cable companies ridiculous fees to receive their services. If I can’t receive it with my HD TV and my UHF/VHF antenna, I don’t want it. Keep in mind that if you have an HD TV (or equivalent) your signal is actually better and clearer than if you get it from the cable company because there is nothing between you and the tower that is broadcasting the signal. We are hoping that others make this commitment and take back control of your TV and your wallet. It is a small sacrifice considering what we hope to get in the end. And that is more competitive, cable-provided HD pricing which is what we deserve. The industry is gouging us and is fooling the public because the public is uninformed about how this whole HD TV thing really works. Please take a few minutes to browse this site. There is a lot of information out there on how it works and how you can take back your TV, and your wallet.