Clear TV Antenna: Free HD TV?

Reviews of the Clear TV Antenna, a conventional digital television antenna that can receive broadcast signals being transmitted within a 25 mile range.

Clear TV Antenna

Fundamentally, the Clear TV Antenna is a typical digital television antenna that will pick up television signals being broadcast near the location where it is installed.

Dimension for the square-shaped antenna are listed as 7 3/4 ” X 7 3/4 “.

The following disclaimer (printed in all caps!) is currently posted towards the bottom of the Clear TV website:

PERFORMS BEST WITH IN A 25 MILES FROM TRANSMITTING TOWER. PERFORMANCE MAY VARY. RECEIVES HIGH VHF/UHF, HD, AND SD CHANNELS. CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR AVAILABLE PROGRAMMING. CLEAR TV CANNOT RECEIVE CABLE OR SATELLITE SERVICES. MAY REQUIRE TV/DEVICE WITH ATSC TUNER. TO FIND OUT WHAT STATIONS ARE IN YOUR AREA, VISIT WWW.ANTENNAWEB.ORG AND ALSO VISIT WWW.DTV.GOV WHICH GIVES YOU A RECEPTION MAP.

In 2013, Clear TV used the domain buycleartv.com in television advertising, but the current official product website is cleartv.com

Cost and Availability

The Clear TV Antenna can be purchased from the product website, but is also widely available in stores such as Walmart and Kmart.

On the product website, Clear TV Antenna can be purchased for $19.95 plus a processing and handling (P&H) fee of $7.99 for a total of $27.94. Consumers can also opt in (or out) of including a second Clear TV Antenna for an additional $7.99 P&H charge (total of $35.93).

A sales tax is added to orders which ship to CT, NJ, NV, NY, and/or PA.

Purchase of the Clear TV Antenna from the product website comes with a 60-Day Money Back Guarantee (minus the P&H expense).

According to the Clear TV website, estimated standard delivery time is 7-10 business days, but we have heard of some deliveries taking 3-4 weeks.

Clear TV Antenna can be obtained from stores for approximately $15. If potential customers are interested in Clear TV, it is highly recommended that the antenna be purchased locally to avoid shipping delays and the P&H cost.

Claims and Features

• Clearly tunes into free digital and HD broadcast signals
• Saves money by avoiding cable and satellite bills
• Quick and easy to set up
• Mountable on windows or walls

Clear TV Antenna Commercial

Below is a Clear TV commercial that has been airing recently:

Understanding Clear TV

It should be stressed to consumers that Clear TV is simply a modernized digital version of the basic television antenna. This means that the Clear TV antenna merely picks up the basic broadcasting signals which are relayed by local television transmitting towers. It will not allow users to receive any cable or satellite signals.

Clear TV marketing pitches its antenna by advising customers to “Stop paying to watch your favorite broadcast shows!”, yet receiving locally transmitted broadcast signals is already free, and they have always been free to receive. The only changes to these signals has been an upgrading from analog to digital, and all television stations in the United States have been required to broadcast in the digital format by federal law since June of 2009.

Older analog televisions can not receive these digital signals without a converter, but all newer TVs accept digital transmissions. As the disclaimer posted on the Clear TV website points out, users can go to www.antennaweb.org and search their ZIP Code to find out which television stations are relaying signals in their locality. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) website offers a similar service.

Ordinarily, there are approximately half a dozen (perhaps more or less depending on location) television stations transmitting in any given location.

Reviews

One of our product researchers tested the Clear TV Antenna alongside an old television antenna, and results were comparable. In fact, signals from both of the antennas may have been slightly clearer than the local cable signal, perhaps due to being uncompressed. Some have claimed that the Clear TV Antenna does provide a slightly clearer picture than a standard television antenna (possibly due to the amplifier?), yet any differences are likely to be marginal.

Epic Conclusion

Clear TV is a digital antenna that acquires broadcast signals being relayed by local television stations. It is not much different than any other television antenna. A standard UHF/VHF digital antenna that performs similarly can be purchased from Walmart for about $10.

This review has been updated since its original publication in January 2015.