On a recent winter night, the Lams and their three children sat in front of a television set with rabbit ears sprouting out of the top. Wait a second -- rabbit ears? Is this 1950? No, it's almost 2010, and the Lams are a modern Los Angeles family that is rediscovering the convenience -- and economics -- of the old-fashioned TV antenna. In the wake of the transition to digital television, many Southern California viewers are finding they can get nearly three times as many channels as they once could with an antenna. And rather than the erratic, fuzzy reception of yesteryear, today's rabbit ears are capable of delivering a surprisingly clear high-definition picture. Best of all, it's free, said Nancy Lam, the mother of the family. 'I've saved a lot of money by getting rid of cable,' Lam said. 'We only had to purchase the antenna one time and now we have it forever -- instead of paying every single month.' In these penny-pinching times, watching TV over the airwaves is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many households, particularly among the Los Angeles region's minority communities. While the number of households with antennas in the U.S. dipped slightly in the last year, nearly 20,000 Asian-American homes in the region began using rabbit ears, and another 8,000 blacks switched to over-the-air TV, according to the Nielsen Company, a media research firm. Nearly a quarter of Latino households with televisions, or about 440,000 homes, already tune in with an antenna -- the most of any demographic group in the area. But watching TV over the airwaves has begun to appeal to a broader audience as well. 'It's the best-kept secret around here,' said Mike Mahan, who recently installed a pair of antennas in the attic of his home in the Orange County community of Ladera Ranch and dropped his cable subscription. 'I just got tired of paying for hundreds of channels I don't watch.' With antennas that can cost as little as a dollar, most Los Angeles viewers can now pick up close to 70 channels, up from around 26 before the federally mandated digital switchover last summer. Nearly a dozen of the digital channels are now broadcast in high definition. Having upgraded to the more sophisticated digital technology, stations are now stuffing as many as nine channels into the same amount of broadcast spectrum once required for a single analog channel. Many of the new channels are aimed at the region's ethnic communities, giving rise to a growing selection of news, entertainment and educational programming for Latino, Asian and Eastern European viewers. In Los Angeles, more than 30 over-the-air channels are available in English, including stations featuring movies, television dramas and children's TV. Major networks like NBC, CBS and ABC beam out daytime and primetime shows -- and professional sports -- in resolution whose clarity may shock viewers expecting the hazy broadcast signals they remember from childhood. 'Everyone who does it says the picture quality is actually better than what you're getting through cable,' said Patricia McDonough, a senior vice president at Nielsen. As more viewers tune in to the newly re-energized possibilities of broadcast, manufacturers say they can't make antennas fast enough. 'Our sales are going through the roof,' said Richard Schneider, president of Antennas Direct, a St. Louis-based manufacturer of the devices. Schneider said sales have nearly tripled since the switchover, and that he had to add a new assembly line in his factory to meet the demand. The company now produces nearly 100,000 antennas every month, Schneider said. Viewers are also finding they can combine broadcast television with the growing array of movie and TV programming now available online. Mahan dropped his subscription to Cox Cable last year in favor of a pair of high-end antennas and an Internet connection that lets him watch movies through Netflix, and TV shows through video Web sites such as Hulu.com. He even rigged up a TiVo-like device that can record shows directly off the antenna. But cable companies contend that over-the-air broadcasts are less reliable and the signal can be easily interrupted or weakened, depending on where a home is located. Homes near hills, for instance, may have trouble receiving all the channels available in a given area. 'There are always risks involved with going over the air or using an antenna to receive a digital picture, mainly because digital airwaves are not as forgiving as analog airwaves and are always subject to interference,' said Darryl Ryan, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable. In addition, many popular cable-only channels such as ESPN and CNN are not yet available over the air, although at least one startup has been experimenting with piping cable and satellite programs onto the airwaves in Los Angeles. The company, Silicon Valley-based Sezmi, expects to roll out its service in major U.S. markets early next year. It plans to charge users about $25 a month for a service that offers a selection of broadcast, cable and Internet programming. In order to watch broadcast TV, viewers must have both an antenna and a television capable of processing the digital signal. Those with pre-digital televisions can purchase a converter box for $40 or less that will enable the antenna to work with their TV set. The cost of antennas vary according to their size and complexity, and can range from less than $5 for small, indoor rabbit ears to nearly $200 for a larger outdoor antenna that will receive more channels and clearer signals. (Begin optional trim) The best evidence that the broadcast audience is growing may be the flowering of new local channels, said Francis X. Wilkinson, general manager of KJLA, a station in Los Angeles. Currently about 11 percent of U.S. households -- or about 13 million homes -- watch over-the-air broadcasts. KJLA, one of the broadcast stations that divided its analog channel into digital subchannels, carries three channels in Spanish, three in Vietnamese, and one each in Korean and Armenian. (The remaining subchannel is a shopping network devoted to jewelry). As with other broadcast stations, several of KJLA's subchannels are available via an antenna, but not through cable. 'Nobody really expected the plethora of stations and choices that people would have over the air,' Wilkinson said. 'It's been a tremendous plus for everyone.' (End optional trim) In January, the Lams plan to watch local Chinese New Year festivities on Little Saigon TV (Channel 44.4). With their two swimmer sons practicing for the Junior Olympics and a daughter headed for college, the Lams haven't had as much family TV time as they once did. But when they do gather to watch the festivities, they'll be using rabbit ears that don't look any different from what viewers may have used six decades earlier, perhaps even in price. Instead of shelling out $30 for a new antenna, the Lams got theirs at the 99 cent store. 'The cheapest one was super clear,' Lam said. 