My parents bought cable for the TV back in 1966. We couldn't get much without it and the antenna on top of 3 story house scared my mom and when my dad went out to fix it during a wind storm she called the cable company the next day. Since so much is now broadcast in digital you do need a conversion box but it is a one time charge. When my DH & I were first married we had a black and white TV that we used "rabbit ears" to get the local stations because you had to pay per TV and the apartment only had one cable connection.