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When broadcast television flipped from analog to digital in June 2009, those old “rabbit ears” became museum pieces.
But over-the-air commercial channels didn’t go away. In fact, they are booming. Beyond your local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS channels are dozens of free “subchannels,” such as a Channel 4.2, available to most homes. Folks living near large cities can find many of these networks.
Better yet, most subchannels offer programs that target a specific audience. So, if you love old Westerns, classic sitcoms or game shows, they’ve got you covered.
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Your old outdoor aerial antenna will work but likely needs a coaxial cable to connect it to a modern TV, or a digital antenna can be purchased at most department stores or online for as little as $10. And your television likely is set up already to receive high-definition digital signals if you purchased it after 2006.
What to watch? Here’s a breakdown by genre.
If you yearn for a return of Marshal Matt Dillon, Rowdy Yates, Lucas McCain or Hoss Cartwright, you can’t go wrong with Grit, a subchannel from Scripps that bills itself as “Television with Backbone” and offers a daily schedule of old Western favorites. You can also turn to getTV, from Sony Pictures Television, where Saturday is all about Westerns and early afternoon has a daily block of Western programs. Weigel Broadcasting’s Heroes & Icons (H&I) also features a Western block during early morning hours, and its subchannel MeTV airs classics including Bonanza and Gunsmoke during the week.
Looking for a laugh? Almost any time of the day, you can find plenty of reruns to choose from. RewindTV, from Nexstar Media Group, is all about comedy, offering up shows like Mork & Mindy, Wings and Designing Women. Nexstar’s AntennaTV is also a honey hole for laughter with reruns ranging from Hazel to Welcome Back Kotter.
NBCUniversal’s Cozi airs classic sitcoms from the NBC library such as Frasier and The Nanny. Weigel Broadcasting includes a hefty offering of sitcoms on Decades, such as Petticoat Junction and The Odd Couple, as well as classics such as M*A*S*H and The Andy Griffith Show on MeTV. Laff, from Scripps, has more recent reruns in its quiver, including Night Court, Home Improvement, and That ’70s Show.
If you are looking for shows to get your heart beating faster, H&I includes a daily lineup of shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger; Nash Bridges; and MacGyver. Charge! from the Sinclair Broadcast Group also focuses on action with shows such as Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY. Or, if you want action with a leading woman, Start TV includes reruns of The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, and The Good Wife in its daily lineup. If crime drama is more your cup of tea, tune to Ion Television, from Scripps, where reruns of NCIS: Los Angeles or NCIS: New Orleans, can be found.
Scripps also has Bounce, a subchannel geared to a Black audience with programs including In the Heat of the Night and Scandal. If you prefer true crime the aptly named True Crime Network from Tegna airs shows such as Dateline and Cold Case Files. Another option, at least at night, is Twist, also from Tegna, that flips from its daytime reality programming (such as Tiny House Nation) to an evening lineup of shows like Murder She Solved and Cruise Ship Killers.
If you are a fan of Star Trek, then you’ll want to beam in H&I every evening as it reruns five classic series in a row, starting with Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek, followed by Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. Sinclair Broadcasting’s Comet is also a must-see for science fiction and fantasy buffs. Its daily programming includes Quantum Leap, X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you prefer a campy classic, MeTV+ reruns the original Lost in Space.
For anyone who enjoyed the game shows of the 1960s and ’70s, Buzzr is the place to be. The subchannel, from Fremantle North America, airs reruns of classics such as Card Sharks, The Newlywed Game and Match Game. Game Show Network (GSN) from Sony Pictures airs reruns of more recent game shows — including Cash Cab and Deal or No Deal.
Here are some of the subchannels available to most households.
Programs: Hazel, My Favorite Martian, Welcome Back Kotter, The Jeffersons and Barney Miller
Genre: Reality, drama and comedy geared to an African American audience
Programs: Scandal, The Real, In the Heat of the Night and Couples Court With The Cutlers
Programs: The Newlywed Game, Let's Make a Deal, Match Game and Family Feud
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Programs: Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY
Genre: Science fiction and fantasy
Programs: The X-Files, Quantum Leap, The Outer Limits and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Classic NBC sitcoms and dramas
Programs: Frasier, The Nanny, Gimme a Break and Murder, She Wrote
Genre: Sitcoms and variety shows
Programs: Petticoat Junction, The Lucy Show, The Odd Couple and The Ed Sullivan Show
Programs: Duck Dynasty, Counting Cars, American Pickers and The Curse of Oak Island
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Genre: Sitcoms, talk, drama and true crime
Programs: The Office, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Parent ’Hood and 48 Hours
Programs: Master Minds, Chain Reaction, Deal or No Deal, Cash Cab and Family Feud
Genre: Westerns, crime, action and comedy
Programs: All in the Family, Charlie’s Angels, Sanford and Son, and Walker, Texas Ranger
Programs: Death Valley Days, Tales of Wells Fargo, Laramie and Tombstone Territory
Heroes & Icons (H&I)
Genre: Westerns, crime, drama, superheroes and Star Trek
Programs: Walker, Texas Ranger; Nash Bridges; MacGyver — plus Star Trek, Next Generation; Deep Space Nine; Voyager; and Enterprise
Programs: NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans and Blue Bloods
Programs: How I Met Your Mother, Night Court, Home Improvement and That ’70s Show
Genre: Sitcoms, dramas, Westerns, superheroes and science fiction
Programs: Dragnet, Matlock, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, M*A*S*H and The Andy Griffith Show
Genre: Sitcoms, dramas, Westerns, superheroes and science fiction
Programs: Family, Mod Squad, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston and Lost in Space
Genre: Family-friendly mix and Saturday morning cartoons
Programs: Ozzie and Harriet, Police Surgeon, Naked City, and The Ray Bradbury Theater
Programs: Who’s the Boss, Mork & Mindy, Wings, Designing Women and Murphy Brown
Programs: Shipping Wars, American Restoration, Auction Kings and Monster Quest
Genre: Legal and action dramas led by women
Programs: The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Crossing Jordan, Cold Case, Profiler and The Good Wife
Programs: Dateline, Cold Case Files, Heartland Homicide and Killer in Plain Sight
Genre: Reality and true crime
Programs: Flipping Out, Tiny House Nation, Murder She Solved and Cruise Ship Killers
Editor's note: This story, originally published Aug. 22, 2022, was updated to mention that old outdoor antennas will pick up digital broadcast signals.
Peter Urban is a contributing writer and editor who focuses on health news. Urban spent two decades working as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., for daily newspapers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, California and Arkansas, including a stint as Washington bureau chief for the Las Vegas Review Journal. His freelance work has appeared in Scientific American and on Bloomberg Government and CTNewsJunkie.com.
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