Antenna TV revisits 'Leave it to Beaver,' other oldies

Antenna? What's that? TV-watching kids have grown up for decades now without set-top "rabbit ears" or a rooftop tower to bring in local channels. They've got cable or satellite and hundreds of channels to choose from.

Now flashback channel Antenna TV revisits the era when antennas first brought broadcast signals into the home -- and into pop-culture prominence -- when just three networks dominated the public airwaves and daily conversation.

The era of "Leave It to Beaver." "Father Knows Best." "The Jack Benny Program." "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." "The Monkees." "All in the Family." Even Sally Field as "The Flying Nun" and Robert Wagner/Fred Astaire as son-and-father con men in "It Takes a Thief." From '50s sitcoms to '70s cops, Antenna TV showcases vintage shows, from the years when they actually made them like they used to.

Antenna TV, the latest digital subchannel of WPIX/11, is broadcast over the air as Ch. 11.4 -- which means, yes, you actually can receive it by antenna. (Or by cable, on Cablevision Ch. 114.)

MORE CHANNELS TV's recent transition to digital broadcasting gave local stations the opportunity to "multicast" their signals, or divide them into several channels. WPIX owner Tribune Broadcasting decided to create its own sort of Nick at Nite flashback. Antenna TV hit the air Jan. 1 with a Three Stooges marathon, and has since extended nationally to 50 TV markets.

WPIX was already using subchannel 11.3 to air a Chicago-based lineup called thisTV, running mostly movies (along with morning kids shows and vintage faves like "The Outer Limits" and "Mister Ed"). Other TV station owners created their own niche subchannels: NBC's Universal Sports (Ch. 4.4) covers Olympic sports year-round, while ABC stations air lifestyle shows on LiveWell (Ch. 7.3, or HD on Ch. 7.2). Public TV stations expanded their mission with subchannels like Create and KidsThirteen.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST True tube lovers most love Antenna TV for "preserving our TV heritage," as Nick at Nite used to say: It stands as a sanctuary for the tube's early gems, and casts a sustained spotlight on the stars who cemented TV's appeal -- legends like Jack Benny or George Burns and Gracie Allen, radio sensations who speeded television's 1950s rise.

Antenna TV isn't afraid of airing black-and-white shows. But color TV is well represented, too. Landmarks like the '70s raucous social-issues comedy "All in the Family" share schedule time with pop culture piffle like "The Partridge Family." Weeknight prime-time on Antenna struts the '70s edge of "Three's Company" and "Maude." Sunday nights bring Antenna almost up to the 21st century with "Married . . . With Children" and "NewsRadio."

And afternoon shows revisit a world where families watched TV together. Parents and kids interact in the mischief of "Dennis the Menace" and the still-resonant everyday reality of "Leave It to Beaver."

This Antenna picks up the past.

Local digital subchannels

Channel numbers indicate over-the-air digital broadcast station for antenna reception. (Cable/satellite channels are in parentheses: CV=Cablevision, VF=Verizon FiOS; DTV=DirecTV.)

WNBC/4

4.2 -- New York Nonstop (CV 109; VF 460)

4.4 -- Universal Sports (CV 110; VF 464; DTV 625)

WABC/7

7.2 -- Live Well HD (CV 729; VF 467)

7.3 -- Live Well (CV 108, VF 468)

WPIX/11

11.2 -- Estrella TV/Spanish (CV 194; VF 462)

11.4 -- Antenna TV (CV 114; VF 465)

WNET/13

13.2 -- KidsThirteen (CV 131; VF 472)

13.3 -- V-me/Spanish (CV 199; VF 474; DTV 440; DISH 9414)

WLIW/21

21.2 -- Create (CV 133; VF 471)

21.3 -- WorldTV (CV 132; VF 473)

WPXN/31

31.2 -- Qubo for kids (VF 491; DTV 347; DISH 217)

31.3 -- ION Life (VF 492)