Aldey

I spoke with an antenna technician today and he kept talking about DMA in regards to digital television. I have no idea what it means and I didn't want to sound stupid while on the phone.

EscapeVelocity

Wiki could explain it better than I ever could....but basically Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Gainville, Jacksonville are all DMA centers....an area around a population center, usually a city or town where media covers an area or region.

Designated Market Area

Piggie

DMA (Designated Television Market) set up by the Nielsen Corporation, not the government.

It is a metropolitan area, including rural area surrounding it that is considered a TV market. In "theory" it's also about the same as the local TV stations coverage.

Everyone everywhere in the US, is in a DMA

They are rated by the number of households in each by a numbering system.

With NYC generally considered to be market #1. You will see other lists and even some variation in the Nielsen numbers depending on the year the statistic were grabbed. There are also other similar rating systems like READS on RabbitEars.Info

I could go on and on but it's covered pretty well here Whats DMA?

If you wonder what DMA you live in you can probably just query Google with the question for your city. If that doesn't work, tell us your city or list of stations you receive.

Piggie

Perfect name for our town here. Because to pick up our locals you need a lot of Gain...

Hence your spelling "Gain-ville"

CptlA

lol. Better than "gettaoutdoorantennaville" where I'm at.

Eureka

Or use this interactive DesignatedMarketArea map:
DMA MAP
Click your state to zoom in on your location.

Trip

Most of Alaska outside of Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks is not. Nor are the Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

- Trip

Piggie

Ok, the DMP stands for Dumb ___ Pig.....

Yes616

I think that technician was saying something to you about what DMA did you want to receive? You might be near the border line of 2 or maybe even 3 of them. If this is the case, it would determine what kind of antenna you might want and if a rotator might be considered as you might want to turn the antenna from time to time.

Post that TV Fool report here and we can understand you wants and needs better.

Piggie

I live in such an area, on the border of 3 DMAs. But with me, only one is close enough for UHF reception, which is average of 30 miles. The other two towns are 61 and 82. Despite the common belief Florida is flat and LOS goes on forever, our small sand hills and pine trees often make over 45 miles impossible on UHF. (short of a 70 feet of tower)