If you love having the option of live TV but don't need (or want) to shell out for expensive premium cable packages, basic TV antennas are a great and low-cost way to watch news, sports, and other live events. Contrary to popular belief, there are a bunch of OTA (over-the-air) TV channels that you can access for free with a solid antenna, though streaming services would love to tell you otherwise.
OTA TV offers a wider variety of choices than you might remember if you haven't used a rabbit-ear antenna since switching over to cable or satellite. These days, most of your local TV stations offer two or three different "channels" per station. Besides the big over-the-air networks, today, there are numerous smaller networks, such as MeTV, AntennaTV, and Comet, which offer older TV shows; Univision, Estrella TV, and Telemundo for Spanish-language TV; and QVC and other home shopping networks.
Most stations broadcast their network programs on HDTV. And, unlike your local cable or satellite company, they don't charge you a thing for the extra "service."
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What's the best TV antenna you can buy right now?
To watch any kind of OTA TV, you probably need an antenna. If you're lucky, you can still get a decent selection of channels with good old rabbit ears but if not, towers and antennae are still available. I grew up installing TV antennas for my dad's television business and have since gone hands-on with all the brands on this list to determine the best TV antenna for your needs. My pick for the best TV antenna overall is the ClearStream 2Max thanks to its flexibility -- you can use it both in your city apartment and on a farm.
That said, there is no "one size fits all" antenna, nor is there one antenna type that's better than any other. It all depends on your location and what signals you can expect to get (below the antenna listed here, I explain how to find that out). Then, look for the antenna that best fits your specific needs. Here are my tested picks for the best TV antenna you can buy right now.
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Best TV antennas of 2025
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