Consumers misled into believing paying only way to get the service, advocate says
Rebecca Tebrake
Sun
Jon LeBlanc on the roof of his Delta home with one of the antennas he uses to receive HDTV signals.Photograph by: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
Forget about buying the newest cable box or satellite dish to get picture-perfect, high-definition television. The perfect companion to an HD television set is a good old-fashioned antenna, according to one advocate.
With networks across Canada and the U.S. legally required to go digital within the next two years, viewers can get top-quality HDTV signals through an antenna absolutely free, said Jon LeBlanc, who has been advocating this option for five years on an online forum at www.digitalhome.com.
Antennas can channel digital signals directly to the TV set, free from the interference that characterized analog days. Plus, the picture beats compressed cable and satellite signals, LeBlanc said.
“It’s beautiful programming,” he said. “The reception is perfect because with digital, it’s either perfect or it’s nothing.”
The United States networks are scheduled to convert from analog transmissions to all-digital on June 12; Canada is set to switch completely in 2011.
All that couch-surfers need to take advantage of free HDTV are an antenna and a television equipped with a digital over-the-air tuner, a feature built into most newer television sets. Viewers in highrises may need only a $70 set-top antenna.
Viewers closer to ground level may have to invest in a roof-top antenna, which can cost up to $500, according to LeBlanc.
“The consumer has basically been misled for a couple of decades now into believing that the only way to get quality television is by paying for it,” he said.
At least one rival is confident that British Columbians will continue choosing cable. Telus reached 100,000 television subscribers this year, said Telus spokesperson Shawn Hall, who welcomes the competition from antennas.
“People are always looking for ways to be economical, but [antenna use] is not something we’ve really seen as a major trend,” Hall said Tuesday.
LeBlanc said he regularly provides online advice to laid-off workers in southern Ontario, where viewers can get up to 30 channels.
Consumer interest is slow but growing in the Lower Mainland, where channels are scarcer. Viewers in Vancouver can get Global HD at channel 22.1, CTV at 33.1, CBC at 58.1, and, if they are lucky, a handful of networks coming in from Seattle.
Greg Gilmour, owner of Aldergrove’s Satellite Central Communications, started selling antennas in the 1950s. Sales bottomed out when cable and satellite companies promised hundreds of clear, on-demand channels. Recently, though, Gilmour has been selling 16 to 20 antennas a month throughout the Lower Mainland.
It’s not grandpa and grandma who are opting for this old-fashioned technology. Gilmour’s customers are mostly young and tech-savvy. The most-requested channel is PBS.
The service is not for everyone, LeBlanc warned. The number of channels is limited, especially in rural areas, so viewers stuck on CNN or TreehouseTV might pass. Still, he said, it’s good to have a choice.
“Consumers don’t like to be told what they have to buy. There’s a real undercurrent of freedom here, not freedom in dollars, but freedom of choice.”
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