Free HDTV from Your Cable Company

I know you've heard the commercials from certain cable and satellite operators that say that they offer high definition channels for free, but this is not the case. While, technically, the channels are free, the box that you need to view them comes with a monthly fee, and you need a separate box for every tv that you want to watch high definition television.

What if I told you you could get high definition television for free, no monthly fee, no upfront fee, just plain free, and I won't even ask you for your credit card information.

By law, major cable companies are required to send the signal for high definition television through your cable line. This doesn't require any tricky antennae or anything besides a subscription to at least basic cable, which most homes in america have, and an HDTV with an ATSC tuner. All you have to do is plug your cable line directly into your ATSC tuner and search for stations, and they should show up automatically.

The catch to this is that you do not get to see your favorite cable high definition channels such as TNT, FX or ESPN, but would you really expect those for free? If you, like so many others are trying to cut back on your expenses, maybe you should look at at least ditching one of your high definition boxes and trying to work with the free local channels in HD?

Don't forget that you also get free extra channels that most people don't ever get to see. For me, in the Washington, DC metro area I receive 3 all local weather channels by the big broadcasters, NBC, ABC and CBS, and I also get a few extra channels that play some odds and ends, like some out of the way sports on NBC.

This move could save you 5, 10 or even more dollars a month. So try it on your TV and see if it works, and if it does, see if changing to this setup works for you.