
The antennas we tested ranged in price from $10 to more than $100-and we found little correlation between price and performance. In addition to a TV antenna, all you need to watch your local stations is a TV equipped with a digital TV tuner, something included in almost all TVs since 2007.

“The signals may be less compressed,” says Claudio Ciacci, lead television tester a Consumer Reports. Websites such as AntennaWeb and the Federal Communications Commission’s DTV Reception Maps page can give you an idea of which stations you might expect to receive.Īs a bonus, the picture quality you get from your indoor TV antenna might be better than what you get from cable. These offer additional programming, such as old TV shows, B movies, and niche content. But there are also now dozens of digital subchannels under the primary channels. If you live near a major TV market, you’ll probably get many local stations-ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, plus PBS and Telemundo-using a TV antenna. An indoor TV antenna can help fill that gap. These services-which include DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV-don’t always provide local programming in all markets.

Even if you subscribe to a cable replacement service that brings you channels such as AMC and HGTV, you might still want an antenna.
