Here’s the Scoop on Free Over-the-Air TV Upgrades
Over-the-air broadcasting is going through a significant evolution that’ll lead to 4K and HDR content, additional programming and more. And it will still be free.
If you’re paying for cable, satellite or even a live-TV service like YouTube TV, learning that you can get free network TV content over the air in every city in the US may sound appealing. That includes sports, news, dramas and comedies — anything that’s on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS and more. All you need is an antenna and maybe a separate, inexpensive tuner.
This new broadcasting standard is called NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0. It has been rolling out across the US for several years. There are already NextGen TV stations in nearly every major city and many smaller cities. Sony, LG, Samsung and Hisense now offer multiple models of built-in NextGen TV tuners. There are also a growing number of stand-alone tuners to add NextGen to just about any TV.
As the name suggests, NextGen TV is the next generation of over-the-air broadcasts, replacing or supplementing the free HD broadcasts we’ve had for over two decades. NextGen not only improves on HDTV but also adds the potential for new features, like free over-the-air 4K and HDR, though those aren’t yet widely available.
Even so, the image quality with NextGen is likely better than what you’re used to from streaming, cable or satellite. If you already have an antenna and watch HD broadcasts, your reception with NextGen might be better, too. So here’s everything you need to know and even deeper dives if you want to learn more.
