Cable TV History Hobbyists to Multinationals
Cable was like a hobby… Cable was like a hobby. We were fooling around with radio stations and signals and looked around to find that you could string a cable and pick up TV and radio station signals. When Martin Malarkey, who owned a music store at the time and was selling TV sets, found a great TV picture in his New York hotel room, he thought he could do that in Pottsville, Pa.
Cable – 1950s single-channel "strip-amp" amplifier
Cable – 1950s , C-COR Electronics cable- powered and messenger- mounted amplifiers
Cable – 1950s Solid state electronics Challenges: –No satellites –No microwaves –Co-channel problems
Cable – 1960s Solid state technology reaches full potential Mandell Converter
Cable – 1960s Mandell converter –Originally, 12 channels –Eliminate off-air interference Amplitude Modulated Link (AML) –Microwaves –Multiple signals Transistor Main Line (TML)
Cable – 1970s Starline One, first modern transistor amplifier Satellites are born FCC interest
Cable – 1970s 1973: 35-channel ( MHz) solid-state amplifiers HBO Channel Expansion
Cable – 1980s Direct Broadcast Satellite Fiber optics Compression Coaxial
Cable – 1990s Digital video (HDTV) Piracy Personal Communication Services (PCS) strategic alliance and convergence International Cable modems 1996: deregulation