TV channels & antenna towers in Arlington, Washington

Arlington is a town of about 18,900 people in Washington. Within 70 miles of the town center we count 26 licensed TV transmitters: 16 full-power, 9 low-power and 1 translator. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 17 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 10 at good or strong strength.

1 of them is within 25 miles of Arlington, 14 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 11 are more than 45 miles out. Four of the 9 network stations in range are licensed to Seattle, so most of the network channels you will find here come from Seattle's stations.

The strongest network signals here are ABC on channel 4 (KOMO-TV), CBS on channel 7 (KIRO-TV), NBC on channel 5 (KING-TV), Fox on channel 13 (KCPQ), CW on channel 51 (KUNS-TV), ION on channel 33 (KWPX-TV), Univision on channel 12 (KVOS-TV), MeTV on channel 44.1 (KFFV) and Trinity on channel 20 (KTBW-TV). Spanish-language viewers can pick up Univision (good signal). 7 full-power stations in range have no network listed in our data; these are typically public television, religious, shopping or independent stations.

Point your antenna SSW, at about 195°. The main network towers for Arlington sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Four network stations, KIRO-TV, KING-TV, KUNS-TV and KOMO-TV, transmit from the same tower site about 41 miles south of Arlington (195° SSW). Aim there first: one setting covers all of them.

Of the 9 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Arlington at fair strength or better, 67% arrive from the south; the rest are spread across two other directions.

All of the main network towers are within their radio horizon as seen from Arlington, so signals arrive fairly directly and a well-placed antenna should hold them steadily.

The farthest main network tower for Arlington is KOMO-TV (ABC), 41 miles away with a good estimated signal. That is why we suggest an amplified indoor or attic antenna here.

KCPQ (Fox), 55 miles southwest, is the exception: the nearest listed affiliate of its network is far enough away to need an outdoor antenna. Some local stations in our data carry no network tag, so check the other stations table below before buying a bigger antenna just for that one.

An amplifier only helps here if you run a long cable (over about 50 feet) or split the antenna to several TVs. Otherwise better placement does more. See the amplifier guide.

With 17 stations at fair strength or better, Arlington ranks 187th of 398 places in Washington: the same as the typical Washington town (17). Its nearest major network tower is 41 miles away, against a state median of 19 miles.

60% of Washington's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an amplified indoor or attic antenna. The nearest larger city is Marysville, 10 miles away.