In this two-part series, we’ll explore how we receive entertainment programming and connect to the world via the Internet. Part 1 will focus on the evolution of cable television (CATV) and geosynchronous satellites to deliver television and Internet access. Part 2 will delve into fiber optics and the emergence of fixed wireless access (FWA).
In the Beginning…
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, television was rapidly becoming the centerpiece of American home entertainment, with the whole family gathered around marveling at the moving images beamed into their living rooms. However, many households were out of luck either because they were too far from the broadcast transmitter or in a valley with a mountain (or even a ridge) in the way. The only solution was an outdoor antenna mounted on a rooftop, or those with sufficient resources (and nice neighbors) could erect a tower on their property. Unfortunately, sometimes, neither approach worked even with the most formidable directional VHF/UHF Yagi antennas (Figure 1), the longest of which could be 25 ft. long with more than 30 elements. The most formidable antenna systems might use multiple Yagi antennas stacked or combined to increase gain and directivity. Armed with this hardware, an amplifier, and a rotator, it might be possible to get some channels from one city and a few others from another by pointing the antennas in different directions.
It was in these challenging environments that community antenna television, or CATV, was born. The concept was elegantly simple: if individual rooftop antennas couldn’t reach the signals, why not build one massive antenna for an entire community? One of the pioneers of this approach was John Walson of Mahanoy City, PA, which was a television dead zone in a valley surrounded by mountains. Walston was an appliance salesman and repairman for Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. When PP&L decided to exit the appliance business, he bought a General Electric franchise and began selling appliances himself, and some of the products on his showroom floor were TVs. Although sales of his other products were booming, the TV sets weren’t moving. No one could receive any TV channels.
According to an article in the Boston Globe, “Walson put some Army surplus wire into his truck, drove up to New Boston Mountain, jammed a 70-foot utility pole in the ground, and placed an antenna on top. He then strung wire from the antenna to his store in downtown Mahanoy City, amplifying the signal with broadband amplifiers every 500 ft. along the way. Sitting in lawn chairs in front of Walson’s windows, residents marveled at the clear images that traveled 80 miles from Philadelphia’s three TV stations. The results were dramatic – clear television reception where none had existed before.
Recognizing the system’s potential, he began running cables to homes throughout the city. For a fee, residents could connect to this system and enjoy television reception. Walson’s TVs began to be best-sellers. Walston is credited as the founder of CATV in 1948 (Figure 2). He is also the first cable operator to use microwave repeaters to import distant television stations, the first to use coaxial cable to improve picture quality, and the first to distribute pay television programming. He died in 1983.
News traveled quickly throughout the state about what Walson had achieved, encouraging others to copy his approach. One of the notables was George Gardner, who founded the Pennwire Television Company in Carlisle, PA, in 1951, and one of the first cable industry product distribution companies, Television and Electronics Service Corporation, to sell equipment for building and operating cable television systems. He also bought and began rebuilding the cable system in Carlisle, which he operated for more than 30 years. Gardner served as a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Cable Television Association. He was an early member of the Cable TV Pioneers, which recognized achievements in the cable television industry. He died at the age of 94 in 2019.
The physical infrastructure of these early systems was rudimentary by today’s standards. The main lines were strung along utility poles and used 75-ohm twin-lead cable; in some cases, CATV operators used steel wire from old cable car systems. The signal was amplified at regular intervals to combat attenuation over long cable runs.
Connecting homes to this system was a labor-intensive process. CATV operators would run a cable from the main line to each subscriber’s home. This “drop line” would typically enter the house near the television set and connect directly to the TV’s antenna terminals.
As word spread of the success of these early systems, the idea of community antenna television began to take hold across the country. Throughout the 1950s, similar systems sprang up in other areas with reception difficulties, from mountainous regions to flat areas that were too far from broadcast towers for reliable reception.
As technology improved in the 1960s and 1970s, cable systems began offering more channels and better picture quality, leading to the introduction of premium channels like HBO, which launched in 1972, offering uncut movies and original programming. The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 deregulated the industry, allowing for rapid expansion and the introduction of new channels catering to niche interests. MTV, CNN, and ESPN became household names during this period.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, cable companies began offering additional services such as Internet access and digital telephone service, effectively becoming telecommunications providers. The transition from analog to digital signals brought improved picture quality, interactive program guides, and video-on-demand services.
The Beginning of the End?
The streaming services that emerged in the late 2000s presented significant challenges to traditional cable TV. Netflix, and later Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, offered more flexibility and lower costs than traditional cable packages. This led to “cord-cutting,” with many subscribers canceling their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming services.
In response, many cable companies have adapted by offering their own streaming platforms and “skinny bundles” — smaller, more affordable packages of channels. Some have also focused on improving broadband internet services, recognizing that high-speed Internet is now as crucial to consumers as television programming.
Looking to the future, CATV is likely to continue evolving even though consumers are increasingly “cutting the cord,” eliminating the traditional cable TV “bundle”. Since 2010, the pay TV penetration rate in the U.S. dropped from 84 million in 2019 to about 58 million in 2023 (Figure 3). According to the latest estimates, U.S. pay-TV providers suffered a loss of over five million subscribers in 2023, with Comcast reporting the most extensive subscriber loss that year.
According to an early 2024 survey from Statista, the rising cost of pay TV is the main reason for cutting the cord. And one in five respondents said they no longer needed cable to watch what they were interested in. Instead, consumers are switching to on-demand content on video streaming services.
To fight back against threats to their existence in their current form, cable companies are diversifying their portfolios, first by emphasizing broadband as consumers still need high-speed Internet and upgrading their infrastructure, including fiber-optic networks. They’ve also entered the wireless market with partnerships with cellular providers. This move allows them to bundle Internet, TV (for those who still want it), and mobile services, creating “triple play” packages to help retain customers and maintain revenue streams. Content creation has also become increasingly important for some cable companies, such as producing original programming or acquiring content studios.
“Cutting the cord” primarily refers to canceling traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions in favor of streaming services, but this doesn’t necessarily result in eliminating the coaxial cable that has been in place in consumers’ homes for many years. So, even if consumers cancel their cable TV service, they may still use the coaxial connection for high-speed Internet and throughout their homes.
Geosynchronous Satellites Enter the Picture
While many people understandably believe fiber optics predated satellites for delivering TV and internet service, the use of satellites came first, emerging in the 1960s and gaining commercial traction in the 1970s and 1980s. In contrast, fiber optic technology for TV distribution didn’t become prevalent until later. Satellite TV had already established a strong market presence by the time fiber optic TV distribution became common. Companies like DirecTV (founded in 1994) and Dish Network (launched as EchoStar in 1996) had millions of subscribers before fiber optic TV services started to gain significant market share.
The first television satellite, Telstar 1 (Figure 4), was launched in 1962. Although initially used for telephone and other communications, it demonstrated the potential for satellite-based TV transmission. These satellites orbit the Earth about 22,000 miles above the equator, matching the Earth’s rotational period. This allows them to remain in a fixed position relative to the ground, making them suited for continuous coverage of specific geographical areas. They simultaneously transmit digital TV signals, including high-definition and even 4K content, to millions of subscribers. The signals are sent from ground stations to the satellite, amplifying and retransmitting them back to Earth over a broad region.
The data rates achievable with satellite internet have improved significantly, but they still lag many terrestrial options. Traditional geosynchronous satellite internet services typically offer download speeds ranging from 12 to 100 Mb/s and upload speeds between 1 to 3 Mb/s. However, newer high-throughput satellites can deliver speeds up to 300 Mb/s.
Latency is one of the best-known limitations of geosynchronous satellites. It is caused by the long distances signals must travel, and this round-trip latency of about 600 to 700 ms is particularly noticeable in voice communications. For standard internet browsing and email, the latency of geosynchronous satellites is less problematic but is poorly suited for online gaming, video conferencing, and other real-time applications.
In the United States, the two major players in satellite TV are DIRECTV and DISH Network. DIRECTV, now owned by AT&T, has been in service since 1994, and DISH Network, founded in 1996, is best known for its Hopper DVR system. This DVR can record thousands of hours of programming, and has multiple tuners that allow simultaneous recording of different shows. Features like MultiView enable viewing multiple channels on one screen, while AutoHop automatically skips commercials. Integration with Sling brings live and recorded TV to mobile devices, and voice control offers hands-free operation.
ViaSat (formerly known as Exede) and HughesNet (Figure 5) are the primary providers of satellite internet in the US. ViaSat offers higher speeds and more generous data allowances, while HughesNet is known for its wider availability and consistent pricing. Internationally, Sky is a major satellite TV provider in Europe, particularly in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Italy. It offers a mix of entertainment, sports, and news channels, along with streaming services and broadband internet in some markets. In Latin America, DIRECTV Latin America (owned by a subsidiary of AT&T) is a significant player. Eutelsat, headquartered in France, provides TV broadcasting services across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. While not a direct-to-consumer provider, Eutelsat’s satellites are used by numerous TV channels and service providers.
SES, based in Luxembourg, provides global TV and internet services and operates a fleet of geosynchronous and medium-earth orbit satellites that serve broadcasters, internet service providers, and mobile network operators. In Asia, various regional providers dominate different markets. For instance, Dish TV and Tata Sky are major satellite TV providers in India, while Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation is a significant player in Japan.
So, while geosynchronous satellites have limitations in speed and latency compared to terrestrial systems, they remain a formidable technology for providing TV, Internet, and voice communications to areas where other options are limited or nonexistent. Their ability to cover vast areas with a single satellite makes them a cost-effective solution for reaching remote and rural populations, bridging the digital divide in many parts of the world.
Summing It Up…
The perception that “cable is dying” is simply not true, although admittedly the traditional bundle may give way to something else. Rather, cable providers are finding ways to stay relevant by leveraging their existing infrastructure and offering services and enhancements they never had before, such as developing their own streaming platforms, creating partnerships with cellar companies, and upgrading their operating systems to DOCSIS 4.0. As the latter (finally) eliminates cables long standing issues with latency and asymmetric speeds, it makes cable competitive with fiber. Ultimately, the future of cable will depend on its ability to continue innovating, adapting to consumer preferences, and providing value in a crowded marketplace.
While Geosynchronous satellites have traditionally been the backbone of satellite TV and internet services, they face significant challenges when competing with terrestrial options. The primary hurdle is latency that negatively impacts real-time applications like video calls and online gaming. That said, geosynchronous satellites will continue to play a role in providing connectivity to rural and remote areas where laying cable or fiber is not economically viable.
What’s Coming in Part 2
So far, this article has explored the history of cable and satellite technologies. In Part 2, the focus will be on fiber optics and fixed wireless access. Optical fiber, with its ability to transmit data at the speed of light and fixed wireless access, offers high-speed Internet without the need for extensive physical infrastructure and represents the next frontier in our ongoing quest for seamless connectivity. Part 2 will delve into their development and impact and how these technologies are addressing the limitations of their predecessors and paving the way for the future.
