The TV antenna is an 80 year old device. Cable and Satellite TV just about extinguished it. However, new technologies and new market conditions are giving new life to the Rabbit Ears, according to the Washington Post.

"Buying an antenna for a high-definition television seems as out of place as using a rotary phone to make a call," wrote Joe Milicia. "But some consumers are spending thousands of dollars on LCD or plasma TVs and hooking them up to $50 antennas that don’t look much different from what grandpa had on top of his black-and-white picture tube."

The reasons are twofold. First, over the air (OTA) HDTV is free. The second is that OTA transmissions have been re-engineered. Since the signal is digital, there is no interference or ghosting. In addition, OTA HDTV is not compressed. "When you’re using an antenna to get an HD signal you will be able to receive true broadcast-quality HD," said Megan Pollock, spokeswoman for the Consumer Electronics Association. "Some of the cable and satellite companies may choose to compress the HD signal."

The compression occurs because the cable companies have limited bandwidth on the physical cable over which to send the signal. Often, they must make compromises on which channels, if any, get the full bandwidth required for uncompressed video. OTA transmissions don’t have that problem.

However, the location of the broadcast antenna and local geography will determine whether a customer can effectively use a Rabbit Ears antenna indoors or whether an outdoor antenna will be required. "An outdoor antenna will work as far as 70 miles away, so long as no mountains are in the way," said Dale Cripps, founder and co-publisher of HDTV Magazine.

Many customers aren’t aware that they can receive HDTV signals in their city if they use an antenna. However, in most cases, only local channels are available. Typically, customers who have HDTV antennas also have cable for channels like TNT, ESPN, CNN, and so on.

HD antennas are available from Terk, Philips, Audiovox, Jensen and Magnavox and range from US$20 to $150. Also, TMO notes that some companies, like Elgato, sell HDTV tuners that connect to a Mac if attached to one of these antennas.