What is Cable Television ?

Cable television is video delivery service provided by governmentally franchised and monitored cable TV operators via coaxial or fiber optical cables. Cable television service are "cablecasted" to subscribers of video programming, or other programming service.

Cable Television Beginning

Cable television, orginally called "community antenna television" or Cable TV began in the late 1940's for communities that were unable to receive off-air television broadcasts because of terrain or long distances from the transmit antennas of the television station. Orginally the cities of Glide, OR, Silverado, CA or a couple of cites in Pennsylvania have claimed to be the first cities to use the technology. Early cable television operators would locate their receive antennas on mountain tops or high roofs to pick-up the broadcast stations signals. Then these signals would be distributed utilizing open transmission "ladder" type 300 ohm wire. As the broadcast signals moved towards the paying subscriber it would lose strenght, or attenuate. Cable operators would buy scrape British radar receivers and use the IF amplifiers within the receivers to amplify the "cabled" broadcast signals. These first amplifiers were useful for amplifing the channels between channel 2 thru 6 only.

In the 1950, cable systems operating in the United States had grown to only 70 systems. These 70 systems served around 15,000 subscribers. The very slow growth was caused overbearing government regulations, telephone company intervention and lack of programming. In 1975, cable TV successfully uplinked programming from a new company called Home Box office (HBO) based in New York City and downlinked (received) the programming via satellite in Pompano Beach, FL. Twenty-five years after the first broadcast signals were distributed via "ladder wire" cable TV had developed a method of programming distribution that TV broadcasters and telephone companies could not regulate or control. By the end of 1998 there were more than 10,700 systems serving more than 65 million subscriber in more than 32,000 communities. Cable Systems are operated in every state of the United States and in many other countries throughout the world.

Channel capacity of cable television systems allow system operators to provide many services. In addition to over-the-air broadcast stations signals, most systems deliver speciality programming via satellite delivery. Advancements in techology now allow cable television systems to provide high speed "broadband" internet access. This service delivers internet information 100 times faster than widely used dial-up analog modems. Products that cable operators will deliver in the near future include local telephone services, VOD "video on demand" programming like sports, movies and special events.

As Home Networks develop the Broadband "PIPE" that the cable operator delivers to the smart house of the near future will allow full home control and security from anywhere in the world via high speed internet connection.