The quality of OTA HDTV is amazing.
I'd say better than cable. Flawless 1080i/720p with 5.1 dolby digital surround.
Zero ghosting, snow, or compression artifacts! This is not the rabbit ears reception of yesteryear.
The best part is that the programming is free, and if you live near (~20mi) downtown and own a HDTV, you may only need a ~$30 antenna to get it. Currently available channels include: ABC (KOMO 4.1), NBC (KING 5.1), CBS (KIRO 7.1), PBS (KCTS 9.1) CW (KSTW 11.1), FOX (KCPQ 13.1), TBN (KTBW 14.1), and KMYQ 22.1.
There are several other independent channels (and a dozen sub channels, like 5.2, etc) that are available, but usually horrible, with the exception of PBS:Create on 9.3 (and unfortunately in 480i).
If you're like me, and have a tunerless HDTV, grab the awesome Samsung DTB-H260F tuner.
Then, grab the AD-DB4 antenna, and if you're going for an attic/remote install, the AD-P18 pre-amp.
I built a simple indoor mast (~$7 in 1/2" galv pipe at Home Depot, and scrap wood) to test aiming.
Make use of AntennaWeb.org. It's a great resource.
I was surprised that the Samsung tuner had a channel guide that's populated from OTA info. It contains program names and time slots, just like cable.
If you cancel your cable service, the antenna, pre-amp and tuner will pay for themselves in about four months -- I'm going to grab occasional Adult Swim, Discovery, Food Net, Sci-Fi, and Comedy Central shows from a torrent site. A small inconvenience to save nearly $60/m.
For discussion of OTA programming and the DTV transition in the Seattle area: The AVS thread.
