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/ 03.16.2010 2:00PM
Aerial Salesman Says OTA TV is Thriving
ST. LOUIS: Richard Schneider says people are still
migrating to over-the-air television, even as the federal government moves in
to relieve it of spectrum. Schneider is president of Antennas Direct, the TV
aerial company that boomed during the DTV transition.
“From current economic conditions, increases in cable and satellite TV rates to
the expansion of over-the air channels and new technologies, there is a bright
future for digital television,” Schneider said in a press release. He believes
the recession in conjunction with multicasting is driving an over-the-air
Renaissance. Schneider noted that some markets have as many as 40 digital and
HD channels available for free. He called over-the-air TV the “new basic
cable.”
Throw in broadband video a la Hulu, Apple TV and movie delivery through the
likes of NetFlix, and pay TV becomes less necessary.
“Consumers can switch to over-the-air television without missing favorite shows
and movies, traditionally found on cable channels,” Schneider’s missive said,
adding that billions had been invested by the government and by individuals in
the transition. Schneider noted that the early projection for DTV converter-box
coupon requests was around 20 million. More than 64 million were applied for;
34 million were redeemed.
And another thing, Schneider said: “FCC reports that only 10 percent of
American homes rely solely on over-the-air TV signals, however these numbers
don’t take into consideration the 35 to 50 percent of households that use an
antenna as a supplement to pay TV. Close to 50 percent of the 114 million
TV-watching households are using an antenna.
“Big-box retailers have added or expanded their selection of antenna products.
A leading electronics retailer has doubled both the number of SKUs they carry,
and doubled their monthly orders from Antennas Direct. While a major wholesale
club ran a digital TV antenna trial, selling out pallets of product in 72
hours. Based on this success, the retailer has subsequently begun rolling out Antennas
Direct products nationwide.”
Schneider said the U.S. TV market could very well go the way of the United
Kingdom’s where half of households now rely on over-the-air digital TV.
However, the U.K. roll-out was preceded by the availability of Freeview set-top
boxes that tuned, aggregated and organized DTV channels. No such device caught
on in the United States.
All the same, Schneider says OTV TV here is growing.
“This is not a dying industry; in fact, new technologies are leading to more
antenna innovation in the past 18 months than in the past 18 years. We can’t
make antennas fast enough.”
Antennas Direct has doubled its revenue every year since its founding in 2003.
The company’s revenue jumped from $3.4 million in 2008 to $7.5 million in 2009
alone, and is expected to reach $14 million in 2010.
Schneider last month said his company was in talks with a private equity firm
to raise $5 million to $10 million for part ownership of the company. The
company had just bought a 7,100-square-foot facility near St. Louis to create a
research lab.
February 15, 2010, “Antennas Direct Seeks
$10 Million Investment”
“We’re frustrated that people don’t realize that you can get all these
additional new channels that you could not get a year ago. And you can get a
better picture quality and the word just isn’t getting out. So we figured if we
could give away a few hundred antennas in each city, that’s going to get the
word out.”
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