Rabbit ears are most effective at receiving VHF frequencies. Other antennas may be better at receiving UHF frequencies-- technically, US television stations can be assigned to either band, but UHF stations tend to dominate. Before digital TV, most of the major networks had VHF stations; UHF was commonly used by unaffiliated stations-- thus Weird Al Yankovic’s UHF. Since the networks were more popular than the independents, the rabbit ear antenna was the default for viewers who didn’t use a roof top antenna.
In the UK, UHF seems to be used. Thus a different antenna would have entered the cultural imagination.
Ironically, most broadcasters in the US have moved over to the UHF band; I don’t know why.
