Cable TV
Acquisition of Signals Cable Began as Community Antenna TV (CATV) Large tower antenna captures broadcast signals and retransmits over wire to community Obtains distant signals (via land line, antenna, microwave, satellite) Superstations Adds non-broadcast content Cable-exclusive content providers (e.g., HBO, CNN) including “Pay” TV Local programming
Technology Headend Trunk cable Distribution of feeder cable Subscriber drop Terminal equipment
Traditional Network Tree
Coaxial Cable Bandwith (750 MHz) cable can carry more channels than b’cast Duplex Coax carries signals in both directions Industry has not generally exploited this feature exception: subscription services (pay, scrambling)
Hybrid Fiber/Coax TV System
History Frank Jewett (1936) Louis H. Cook (1937) Coaxial Cable installed between New York and Philadelphia Louis H. Cook (1937) Patent to send pictures over a wire CATV – Community Antenna Television(1948) Tap in to a coax cable connected to a large antenna Charles Dolan HBO (1965-1972) Used a satellite to make novel service available to cable companies
Modern Era 1980 – Switch in who paid whom vis-à-vis programmers and operators 1987 – Majority of people get TV via cable 1992 – Cable Communications Consumer Protection and Competition act of 1992 Cable companies had to stop gouging Telecommunications Act of 1996 Telephone companies allowed to get into the act
Current Era By 2000 68% of homes had cable tv Direct Broadcast Satellite presents competition Fiber Optic compression enables cable company to transmit 12 signals where it used to be able to transmit one
Video Channels in the Home
Recent Activity Digital Upgrades High Definition TV Interactive Services Video on demand Subscription video on demand Interactive program guides Enhanced TV services Digital video recorder