What Is Over-The-Air?

Over-The-Air Television (OTA) has been around for many years in one form or another. The competition from Cable TV and Satellite over the last several decades made OTA TV almost disappear from the radar of many TV consumers. They wanted the variety offered by subscription options via Cable and Satellite and, in the beginning, did not worry about the monthly fees.

Subscription providers were quick to add channels, and the costs of programming have greatly increased over the years. It has finally gotten to the point where consumers have rebelled against paying for channels they do not watch but are included in the inflated packages from cable or satellite providers, whether they wanted them or not.

It has been more than 15 years since the FCC created Digital TV and shut down previous analog TV channels. Slowly but surely, new channels have been created for the digital market, and all that is required is a TV antenna and a digital TV or a digital set-top box feeding a TV monitor. The price is right—free of charge to individual consumers wanting to view many dozens of ad-supported channels.

Improving digital technology has expanded the number of channels that can be transmitted from a single station, with the average TV market now supporting 40 to 70 free TV channels. Big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have between 100 and 200 channels in their markets.

Local TV is no longer limited to a handful of stations, and things will never be the same again. Most local affiliates from the major commercial networks and PBS are transmitted in stunning high-definition formats. Even average-quality diginet channels, transmitting mostly classic TV programming, often maintain the modern widescreen 16x9-inch letterbox format but in standard definition.

There has never been as much free TV available to the consumer, and continuing improvements in digital technology will not only provide more channels and even better picture quality but also new, previously unheard-of services delivered to everyone. This creates a diverse mix that includes great improvements in public safety, commercial opportunities for narrowly targeted advertising and programming, and other innovations.

This concept is known as “Next Generation Television.” Keep reading for more details on how Manhattan-Digital will be part of these new developments and how you can be part of this next generation.