Last week I reported on the increased interest in off-air reception of TV stations in light of the Time Warner Cable/CBS battle over retransmission rights (now resolved). I’ve heard from a few people that had tried antenna reception; however, some of these had problems getting solid reception, especially in Los Angeles. I’ve yet to hear if any of my suggestions helped.
On Wednesday, Channel Master reported its digital broadcast antenna sales surged. It said antenna sales in August were 150 percent higher than in July, with its SMARTenna (indoor/outdoor), CLEARtenna (indoor) and the EXREMEtenna (outdoor) were its three top sellers in August.
Traffic to Channel Master's website increased as well.
Isaac Valenzuela, Channel Master director of marketing, commented, “The publicity surrounding the Time Warner Cable/CBS dispute was national in scope and attention. It was one of the best reminders to the general consumer population that much of their most popular programming is produced for free broadcast consumption--and all anyone needs is a good antenna and digital broadcast converter box. We at Channel Master clearly were among the beneficiaries from the dispute.”
I'm still interested in hearing from readers who switched to or tested an antenna during the Time Warner Cable/CBS battle. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com.
