The History and Future of Cable Television

Cable TV was born out of necessity. People living in rugged and mountainous terrain in the 1940's had no way to receive a signal through their own small antennas. Therefore, large community antennas were constructed, and lines were run to individual homes so that everyone could receive television. Originally, these systems were only created in areas which could not receive antenna reception. They were only run to homes which could not have otherwise watched TV.

"Community Antenna Television" eventually became what is known today as cable, but it took quite a while to get there. By the early 1950's, Community Antenna Television or CATV had 14,000 subscribers linked to television by 70 systems. During the 1950's, operators began to realize that through cable, signals could be picked up from stations that were hundreds of miles away. From that point, there were more channel choices than standard television could offer. By 1962, 850,000 people were subscribed to cable TV.

Local broadcasters began to fear the competition from this new form of television, and the FCC placed restrictions upon the importing of channels through cable. These restrictions lasted until 1972 when the regulations were relaxed. The following two decades showed enormous growth in the technology and channels available as well as in the number of subscribers. By the end of the 1970's, 16 million people subscribed. This number jumped to 53 million by the end of the following decade.

By 1990, customers became unhappy with the increasing price of cable. In 1992, Congress hindered its hold on the market by opening programming up to other forms of technology such as wireless and emerging satellite TV. This wave of new competition prompted cable companies to drive down their prices and begin to offer even more channels to the customer. The act of Congress may have hindered the companies in the short term, but overall, it has led to the offering of more features to customers at better prices.

Today, over 84% of television households, or 92 million homes, subscribe to cable. Even with the dawn of satellite television, cable is keeping up with the curve in offering desired features such as Internet, video on demand, pay-per-view and interactive TV. Many companies also offer channels such as 24 hour per day sports, weather, news and movie coverage. Regardless of the time of day, enthusiasts can watch a program that suits their interests. Cable offers a higher quantity of channels than other television systems and fun features to go along with those channels.

At 60 years old, cable television is still a relatively new technology. Despite even newer technologies emerging, it shows no signs of slowing down or allowing itself to be phased out. It has a thriving following in North America, Europe and East Asia. Not only does it keep up with new trends, much of the time, cable TV is setting the trends. By keeping prices competitive and offering new features, cable can be assured of sticking around in people's homes for a long time.

However, for the absolute best in premium television entertainment, go with a satellite television provider. DIRECTV is the nation's leading provider of high definition satellite television services. For the best in sports programming, movies, and high-definition entertainment, you can't go wrong with a DIRECTV HD programming package.

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