What is a TV antenna? (And why so many games are free)
Short answer: a TV antenna is a small thing, usually a flat sheet you stick on a window, that plugs into the back of your TV. You buy it once. It picks up your local CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC and PBS stations out of the air, free, with no monthly bill. That's why we say a game is "free with an antenna": if it's on one of those channels, an antenna gets it.
Most people have never used one: only about 1 in 5 US homes has a TV antenna today. They never went away. When TV went digital in 2009, antenna TV became HD, and the picture is often sharper than streaming because nothing is compressed for the internet.
What you get
- Your local stations for CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC, plus PBS and usually extra channels (CW, MeTV, Ion and more, depending on where you live).
- Everything those channels show: most Sunday NFL games, many college football games, Thanksgiving football, the news, and network shows.
- No subscription, no login, no internet needed.
What you don't get
- Cable and streaming channels: ESPN, Prime Video, Peacock, TNT and the like. A Monday Night Football game that's only on ESPN, or Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, isn't on an antenna (unless it's also on a local station in the teams' home markets).
- Recording, unless you add a box such as a Tablo or HDHomeRun.
- Guaranteed reception: it depends on how far you are from the broadcast towers and what's in the way. Most city and suburban homes get the main channels with an indoor antenna; rural homes may need one in the attic or on the roof.
How to set it up (about 5 minutes)
- Find the round screw-on port on the back of your TV marked ANT IN, RF IN or Cable/Antenna.
- Screw the antenna cable in. Stick the antenna on a window or high on a wall, ideally facing the direction of your local broadcast towers.
- On the TV remote, open Settings → Channels (or Broadcast / Source → Antenna or Air) and run a channel scan.
- Missing a channel? Move the antenna a few feet, higher or to another window, and scan again.
TVs sold in the US since 2007 have the digital tuner built in, so you almost certainly don't need anything else.
Check what you'd get at your address
Type your address into the FCC's free DTV reception map or AntennaWeb. They show which stations reach you and from which direction.
Which games are free this week?
NFL games on TV today · College football today · Monday Night Football · Thanksgiving games · Every NFL game by channel
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