Download Cable and the Specialization of Television

Cable Television: History of Technology
Community Antenna Television: CATV
Originally developed in central Pennsylvania
and New York. Master antenna with line-ofsight to broadcast television transmitters
captured signals. Those signals were then
delivered to homes in the valleys via “cables.”
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Cable Television: History of Technology
Cable Television
Derived from CATV, Cable television adds
satellite delivered programming and a more
sophisticated organization and delivery system:
the “headend.”
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Satellite
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Cable Television: Early History
•1967: Must-carry rules guarantee local broadcast stations
carriage on cable systems.
•1975: Home Box Office offers satellite delivered premium
channels by subscription (no advertising).
•1976: Satellite delivered “superstations.”
•1970-1986: Competition for franchises granted by
communities, often with exaggerated “franchise fee”
estimates and elaborate promises for community access cable
channels (PEG: public, educational, government). Often
allowed for “leased channels” available to the public for a fee
(also known as local origination).
•Mid 1980s: Growth of Multiple System Owners (MSOs),
leading to concentration of ownership of both cable systems
and cable program services, especially after 1986 Act.
Cable Television: Programming
Tier service:
By the early 1980s, most cable systems offered
multiple levels of service organized into tiers:
Basic: Includes local broadcast channels,
advertiser supported cable services, and access
programming.
Upper Tier: More desirable cable services,
such as sports networks and movie channels.
Premium: Subscription pay channels such as
HBO that are often offered “ala carte.”
Pay-per-view
Cable Television: Programming
•Narrowcasting: Cable channels provide specialized
programming for desired demographics. In this
way, cable replicated television (general audience
channels such as USA Network and TNT) as well as
radio and magazines (such as ESPN, Food TV
Network, and HGTV).
•Pay-per-View and Interactive: Uses advanced
technology (fiber optics and digital connectivity).
•Cable Radio: Uses excess channel capacity to
provide CD quality music channels.
Cable Television: Regulation
•Prior to 1986, local regulation prevailed except where
Federal jurisdiction prevailed (such as must carry rules and
regulation of satellite delivery.
•Cable Communication Policy Act of 1986: effectively
deregulates the local cable franchises.
•Cable Reregulation Act of 1992: reregulated cable
franchise rate structures. Also “retransmission consent”
allows local broadcasters to ask for compensation for cable
carriage OR get guaranteed carriage for free.
•Telecommunications Act of 1996: authorizes phase out
of 1992 regulations and offers incentives for competition with
the telephone companies in various services.
Cable Television: Competition
•MDS: Microwave delivered “wireless cable.” Has
limited channel capacity, but cheaper.
•TVRO: C-band satellite delivery. Big dishes with
increasingly narrow program offerings since the
advent of wide-scale signal scrambling.
•DBS: Direct broadcast satellite. Ku-band satellite
delivery in program services such as DirecTV.
•World Wide Web: Television delivery system of the
future? P2P File sharing as distribution mode.