Why was antenna TV banned in 2009?

-Yeah in June of 2009 the government banned antenna TV. Why?Broadcast (Antenna TV) is alive and well.



Transmission changed from analog to digital. Thus requiring TV sets not connected to cable/satellite to have digital tuners. The government even provided a $50 coupon for people who did not have digital TV set to be able to continue receiving TV signals.



There is less interference with digital signals and the quality is better. Think a CD vs an old record.

Also it freed up space for more digital services like cell phones and wireless Internet.



Broadcast stations can now put 4 channels in the same 6 MHz channel slot they could only get one in before so there are actually more broadcast TV channels available now than in 2009.



The very best High Definition TV station picture available (I am talking about TV not Blu-Ray or a Video game) is with an antenna hooked to a HDTV set with an ATSC tuner. The over-the-air signal is compressed far less than the same station as it is carried by a cable or satellite company.



I have a hand held TV set with digital tuner works GREAT!Antenna TV wasn't banned, analog TV was replaced by a digital signal. You can still pick up digital signals through the air with an antenna as there has actually been a bit of resurgence of hand-held televisions because of this. The analog standard was replaced by digital standard to make room for more bandwidth for wireless computer/internet products and providers (or so the government could sell it and try to make some cash)
every thing went digital man.