Historical and descriptive outline of the American cable television industry
Cable television
first became available in the United States in 1948.
[1]
By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions,
[2]
with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992.
[3]
Most cable viewers in the U.S. reside in the suburbs and tend to be
middle class
;
[4]
cable television is less common in
low income
,
urban
, and
rural
areas.
[4]
According to reports released by the
Federal Communications Commission
, traditional cable television subscriptions in the US peaked around the year 2000, at 68.5 million total subscriptions.
[5]
Since then, cable subscriptions have been in slow decline, dropping to 54.4 million subscribers by December 2013.
[6]
Some
telephone service providers
have started offering television, reaching to 11.3 million video subscribers as of December 2013.
[6]
History
[
edit
]
First systems
[
edit
]
It is claimed that the first cable television system in the United States was created in 1948 in
Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania
by
John Walson
to provide television signals to people whose reception was poor because of tall mountains and buildings blocking TV signals.
[7]
Mahanoy City was ideally suited for CATV services, since broadcast television signals could easily be received via mountaintop antennas and retransmitted by "twin-lead" or "ladder-lead" cable to the valley community below (where broadcast reception was very poor). Walson's "first" claim has long been questioned and his claimed starting date can not be verified.
[8]
The
United States Congress
and the
National Cable Television Association
have recognized Walson as having invented cable television in the spring of 1948.
[7]
A CATV system was developed in the late 1940s by
James F. Reynolds
in his town of Maple Dale, Pennsylvania, which grew to include
Sandy Lake
,
Stoneboro
,
Polk
,
Cochranton
, and
Meadville
.
Even though Eastern Pennsylvania, particularly the counties of
Schuylkill
and
Carbon
in the anthracite coal region, had several of the earliest CATV systems, there were other CATV entrepreneurs scattered throughout the United States. One was James Y. Davidson of
Tuckerman, Arkansas
. Davidson was the local movie theater manager and ran a radio repair business on the side. In 1949, he set up a cable system to bring the signal of a newly launched
Memphis, Tennessee
station to his community, which was located too far away to receive the signal with set-top antennas alone.
[
citation needed
]
Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons built the first cable television system in the United States that used
coaxial cable
, amplifiers, and a community antenna to deliver television signals to an area that otherwise would not have been able to receive broadcast television signals. In 1948, Parsons owned a radio station in
Astoria, Oregon
. A year earlier he and his wife had first seen television at a broadcasters' convention. In the spring of 1948, Parsons learned that radio station KRSC (now
KKNW
) in
Seattle
? 125 miles away ? was going to launch a television station that fall. He found that with a large antenna he could receive KRSC's signal on the roof of the
Hotel Astoria
and from there he ran coaxial cable across the street to his apartment. When the station (now
KING-TV
) went on the air in November 1948, Parsons was the only one in town able to see television. According to
MSNBC
's Bob Sullivan, Parsons charged a $125 one-time set-up fee and a $3 a month service fee.
[9]
In May 1968, Parsons was acknowledged as the father of community antenna television.
[10]
First commercial system
[
edit
]
In 1950, Robert Tarlton developed the first commercial cable television system in the United States. Tarlton organized a group of fellow television set retailers in
Lansford, Pennsylvania
, a town in the same region as Mahanoy City, to offer television signals from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
broadcast stations to homes in Lansford for a fee. The system was featured in stories in
The New York Times
,
Newsweek
and
The Wall Street Journal
.
[
citation needed
]
The publicity of this successful early system set off a wave of cable system construction throughout the United States, and Tarlton himself became a highly sought-after consultant.
[
citation needed
]
Tarlton used equipment manufactured by a new company,
Jerrold Electronics
. After seeing the success of the Tarlton system in 1950, Jerrold president (and future Pennsylvania governor)
Milton Shapp
reorganized his company to build equipment for the now-growing cable industry. In 1952, Tarlton went to work for Jerrold, helping to construct most of the major systems built by that company in the 1950s. Tarlton was also responsible for training many of the major operators of cable systems in the 1950s. In 2003, Tarlton was inducted in the Cable Television Hall of Fame for his work building the first widely publicized cable television company in America.
[11]
Early growth
[
edit
]
The rise of free broadcast television during the 1950s greatly threatened the established entertainment industry by offering an alternative to the common practice of regularly paying to see films. The possibility of turning free television viewers into paid television viewers was discussed early on. For example, after 25 million American televisions tuned to
a musical version of
Cinderella
in 1957, executives calculated that had the network received 25¢ for each television tuned to the show, it would have earned more than $6 million without distribution costs.
[12]
However, due to many legal, regulatory and technological obstacles, cable television in the United States in its first 24 years was used almost exclusively to relay
terrestrial
commercial television stations
to remote and inaccessible areas. It also became popular in other areas in which mountainous terrain caused poor reception over the air. Original programming over cable came in 1972 with
deregulation
of the industry.
[1]
During the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)'s
freeze on television licenses from 1948 to 1952
,
[13]
the demand for television increased. Since new television station licenses were not being issued, the only way the demand was met, even in communities with one or more operating broadcast stations, was by
Community Antenna Television (CATV)
, as early cable was known (so named because of the literal sharing of a very large receiving antenna by an entire community).
Regulation
[
edit
]
Policy history
[
edit
]
On August 1, 1949, T.J. Slowie, a secretary of the Federal Communications Commission, sent a letter to Parsons requesting that he "furnish [to] the Commission full information with respect to the nature of the system you may have developed and may be operating." This is the first known involvement of the FCC in CATV. An FCC lawyer, E. Stratford Smith, determined the Commission could exercise
common carrier
jurisdiction over CATV. The FCC did not act on this opinion, and Smith later changed his mind after working in the cable industry for some time. Further, Smith's decision was influenced by his experiences testifying several times in United States Senate committee hearings. Senator, and future FCC commissioner,
Kenneth A. Cox
attended and participated in these hearings. He prepared a report for the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce against CATV and supporting the FCC policy of a television station in every community.
In 1959 and 1961, bills were introduced in Congress of the United States that would have determined the role of the FCC in CATV policy. Chief architect of some of these bills was attorney
Yolanda G. Barco
. She was one of the first female executives in cable, described as the "principal attorney for cable television interests during the industry's formative years".
[14]
The 1959 bill, which made it to the floor of the Senate, would have limited FCC jurisdiction to CATV systems within the contours (or the broadcast range) of a single station; however, the bill was defeated. The 1961 bill proposed by the FCC would have given the Commission authority over CATV as CATV, and not as a common carrier or broadcaster. The Commission could then adopt rules and regulations "in the public interest" to govern CATV in any area covered both by CATV and broadcast television. No action was ever taken on this bill.
More important than Congressional action in determining Federal Communications Commission CATV policy were court cases and FCC hearings. In
Frontier Broadcasting Co. v. Collier
, broadcasters tried to compel the FCC to exercise common carrier authority over 288 CATV systems in 36 states. The broadcasters maintained that CATV went against the FCC's Sixth Report and Order, which advocated at least one television station in every community. In 1958, the FCC decided that CATV was not really a common carrier since the subscriber did not determine the programming. Carter Mountain Transmission Corp., a common carrier that already transmitted television signals by microwave to CATV systems in several Wyoming towns, wanted to add a second signal to two of the towns and add two signals to a previously unserved town. A television station in one town opposed this and protested to the FCC on the grounds of economic damage. A hearing examiner supported Carter Mountain, but the Commission supported the television station. The case was taken to appeal, and the Federal Communications Commission won. "The fact that no broadcaster has actually gone off the air due to CATV competition at the time the government moved to expand its authority (nor have any since) did not stay the momentum for the expansion of regulatory authority. That some economic impact was merely plausible sufficed as the basis for government concern and government action". The FCC overruled a hearing examiner in favor of broadcasters again in the "San Diego Case". The CATV systems in San Diego, California wanted to import stations from Los Angeles, some of which could be seen in San Diego; the television stations in San Diego did not want the signals to be imported. The television stations won, not allowing the signals on future cable lines in San Diego and its environs. The FCC's reasoning was to protect existing and future
UHF
stations in San Diego. (One of the pioneers of cable TV was
KSA-TV
)
In the First Report and Order by the Federal Communications Commission on CATV, the FCC gave itself the power to regulate CATV. This Report and Order was designed to protect television stations in small towns. It did this by imposing two rules, which slightly altered form: one requires that a CATV system carry all local stations in which the CATV system is in the A- (best reception) contour of the station. The second prohibits the importation of programs from a non-local station that duplicates programming on a local station if the duplication is shown either 15 days before or after its local airing. This 1965 report reasoning is as follows: 1) CATV should carry local stations because CATV supplements, not replaces, local stations; and, the non-carriage of local stations gives distant stations an advantage since people will not change from the cable to the antenna to see a local station; 2) non-carriage is "inherently contrary to the public interest"; and, 3) CATV duplication of local programming via distant signals is unfair since broadcasters and CATV do not compete for programs on an equal footing; the FCC recommended "a reasonable measure of exclusivity".
The 1966 Second Report and Order made some minor changes in the First Report and Order and added a major regulation. This was designed to protect UHF stations in large cities. The new rule disallowed the importation of distant signals into the top 100 markets, thus making CATV at that time profitable only in cities with poor reception. In 1968, the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's right to make rules and regulations concerning CATV. In its decision on
United States v. Southwestern Cable
, the "San Diego Case", it said "the Commission's authority over 'all interstate ... communications by wire or radio' permits the regulation of CATV systems."
Carriage
[
edit
]
Carriage refers to the agreement under which a cable provider rebroadcasts a television channel on its network. The
Federal Communications Commission
puts various requirements on these agreements, which may include channels cable providers are required to carry, and moderates disputes over the fees and conditions of any particular agreement.
Public-access television
[
edit
]
In 1969, the FCC issued rules requiring all CATV systems with over 3,500 subscribers to have facilities for
local origination
of programming by April 1, 1971; the date was later suspended. In 1972,
Dean Burch
steered the FCC into a new area of regulation. It lifted its restrictions on CATV in large cities, but now put the burden of more
local programming
on CATV operators. In 1976, the FCC used its rule-making power to require that new systems now had to have 20 channels, and that cable providers with systems of 3,500 subscribers or more had to provide
Public, educational, and government access
(PEG) services with facilities and equipment necessary to use this
channel capacity
.
During the early 1980s, various live
local programs
with local interests were rapidly being created all over the United States in most major
television markets
. Before there was
public access TV
, one of Time Inc.'s pioneering stations was in
Columbus, Ohio
, where Richard Sillman became the nation's youngest cable television director at age 16.
[15]
Programming
[
edit
]
Basic cable
[
edit
]
Cable
television programming
is often divided between basic and premium television. Basic cable networks are generally those with wide carriage on the lowest service tiers of multichannel television providers. In the era of analog cable television, these channels were typically transmitted without any
encryption
or other scrambling methods. These networks can vary in format, ranging from those targeting mainstream audiences, to
specialty
networks that are focused on specific
genres
,
demographics
, or niches. Basic cable networks depend on a mix of per-subscriber carriage fees paid by the provider, and revenue from advertising sold on the service, as their sources of revenue.
One of the first "basic cable" networks was
TBS
?which was initially established as a satellite uplink of an
independent television station
(the present-day
WPCH-TV
) in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS would serve as the starting point for other major basic cable ventures by its owner,
Ted Turner
, including
CNN
?the first 24-hour
news channel
. Another early network was the CBN Satellite Service, a
Christian television
service launched by
televangelist
Pat Robertson
in April 1977 as the television ministry of his
Christian Broadcasting Network
, that was delivered by
satellite
as a more efficient way to distribute the programming. For years, the CBN Satellite Service (later renamed CBN Cable Network in 1984) mixed
religious programming
with reruns of classic television series to fill out its 24-hour schedule. The network changed its name to
The CBN Family Channel
in 1988 (revised to The Family Channel in 1990 once CBN spun it out to an indirectly owned for-profit company,
International Family Entertainment
). It was subsequently renamed
Fox Family
in 1998 after it was acquired by a partnership between
Fox Entertainment Group
and
Saban Entertainment
, then
ABC Family
after its 2001 sale to
ABC
parent
The Walt Disney Company
, and finally to its current name,
Freeform
in 2016.
[16]
Premium cable
[
edit
]
The origins of
premium cable
lie in two areas: early pay television systems of the 1950s and 1960s and early cable (CATV) operators' small efforts to add extra channels to their systems that were not derived from free-to-air signals. In more recent years, premium cable refers to networks?such as
Home Box Office (HBO)
,
Cinemax
,
Showtime
,
The Movie Channel
,
Flix
,
Starz
,
MoviePlex
, and
Epix
?that scramble or encrypt their signals so that only those paying additional monthly fees to their cable system can legally view them (via the use of a
converter box
). Because their programming is commercial-free (except for
promotions
in-between shows for the networks' own content), these networks command much higher fees from cable systems. Premium services have the discretion to offer the service unencrypted to a certain number of participating cable providers during a short-term
free preview
period to allow those who do not receive a premium service to sample its programming, in an effort for subscribers to the participant provider to consider obtaining a subscription to the offered service to continue viewing it following the preview period.
HBO was the first true premium cable (or "pay-cable") network as well as the first television network intended for cable distribution on a regional or national basis; however, there were notable precursors to premium cable in the pay-television industry that operated during the 1950s and 1960s (with a few systems lingering until 1980), as well as some attempts by free-to-air broadcasters during the 1970s and 1980s that ultimately folded as their subscriber bases declined amid viewer shifts to receiving premium television content delivered by cable providers that had begun operating in metropolitan areas throughout that period. In its infancy, following its launch over
Service Electric Cable
's
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
, system on November 8, 1972, HBO had been quietly providing pay programming to CATV systems in
Pennsylvania
and
New York
, using
microwave
technology to transmit its programming to cable and MMDS providers. In 1975, HBO became the first cable network to be delivered nationwide by
satellite
transmission. Although such conversions are rare, some present-day basic cable channels have originated as premium services, including the
Disney Channel
(from 1983 to 1997),
AMC
(from 1984 to 1988), and
Bravo
(from 1982 to 1994); some of these services eventually switched to an advertiser-supported model after transitioning to an unencrypted structure. Other fledgling premium services (such as early HBO spin-off efforts
Take 2
and
Festival
,
Home Theater Network
and
Spotlight
) have lasted for a few years, only to fail due to the inability to compete against established premium services that had broader distribution and higher subscriber totals.
Since cable television channels are not broadcast on public spectrum, they are not subject to FCC regulations on indecent material. Premium networks generally offer broader portrayal of profanity, sex and violence; some premium services?such as Cinemax and The Movie Channel (which have carried such programs as part of their late-night schedules) as well as
Playboy TV
, one of the first adult-oriented premium cable services?have even offered
softcore pornography
as part of their programming inventory.
While there are no FCC rules that apply to content on basic cable networks, many
self-regulate
their program content due to demographic targeting, or because of viewer and advertiser expectations, particularly with regard to profane language and nudity. In recent years, however, some networks have become more lenient towards content aired during late-primetime and late-night hours. In addition, some channels, such as
FX
, have positioned themselves with an original programming direction more akin to premium services, with a focus on more "mature" and creator-driven series to help attract critical acclaim and
key demographic
viewership.
[17]
[18]
Turner Classic Movies
has aired uncut and commercial-free prints of theatrical films that have featured nudity, sexual content, violence and profanity, as had the now-ad-supported
SundanceTV
and
IFC
, the former of which began as a premium service, spun off from Showtime. Commercial-free basic channels have tended to rate their film presentations using the
TV Parental Guidelines
, instead of the
Motion Picture Association of America
(MPAA)
ratings system
.
A la carte
cable
[
edit
]
| This section's
factual accuracy
may be compromised due to out-of-date information
.
Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
(
May 2010
)
|
Since the early 21st century, some have advocated for laws that would require cable providers to offer their subscribers their own "
a la carte
" choice of channels.
[19]
Unlike the standardized subscription packages being offered currently, an a la carte model requires the customer to subscribe to each channel individually. It is not clear how this might affect subscription costs over all, but it would allow a parent to censor their child's viewing habits by removing any channel they deem objectionable from their subscription. Offering such individualized subscriptions would have been relatively complicated and labor-intensive using analog cable, but the widespread adoption of
digital cable
&
IPTV
technologies have now made it more feasible.
Analog technology allowed cable providers to offer standardized subscription packages using
low-pass filters
and
notch filters
. A low-pass filter lets lower frequency signals pass while removing higher frequency signals. Using such filtering, the cable provider offered "economy basic" subscriptions (local channels only; these appear at the lowest frequency signals, denoted by the lowest channel numbers) and "basic" subscriptions (local channels plus a handful of national channels with frequencies just higher than the local stations). Notch filters were used to filter out a "notch" of channels from an analog cable signal (for example, channels 45-50 could be "notched" out and the subscriber still receives channels below 45 and above 50). This allowed cable providers to open standardized ranges of premium channels to the subscriber, but notch filtering was not a feasible way to offer each subscriber their own individual choice of channels.
To offer "a la carte" service using an analog signal, a cable provider would most likely have to scramble every channel and send a technician to each subscriber's home to unscramble their choice of channels on their set-top box. Each change an analog cable customer made in their subscription would then require an additional home visit to reprogram their set-top box. Offering the customer their choice of channels a la carte has become more cost-effective with the advent of digital cable, because a digital set-top converter box can be programmed remotely.
IPTV
(i.e., delivering TV channels over an internet or IP-based network) is even less labor-intensive, delivering channels to the consumer automatically.
Currently, digital cable and satellite delivery systems with standardized subscriptions are providing an opportunity for networks that service niche and minority audiences to reach millions of households, and potentially, millions of viewers. Since a la carte could force each channel to be sold individually, such networks worry they could face a significant reduction in subscription fees and advertising revenue, and potentially be driven out of business. Many cable/satellite providers are therefore reluctant to introduce an a la carte business model. They fear it will reduce the overall choice of viewing content, making their service less appealing to customers. Some believe the a la carte option could actually increase overall sales by allowing potential subscribers a less expensive entry point into the cable marketplace. Some cable/satellite providers might wish to sell channels a la carte, but their contracts with programmers often require the more standardized approach.
[20]
Digital cable
[
edit
]
Starting in the late 1990s, advances in
digital signal processing
(primarily Motorola's
DigiCipher 2
video compression
technology in North America) gave rise to wider implementation of
digital cable
services. Digital cable television provides many more television channels over the same available
bandwidth
, by converting cable channels to a digital signal and then compressing the signal. Currently, most systems offer a hybrid analog/digital cable system. This means they offer a certain number of analog channels via their basic cable service with additional channels being made available via their digital cable service.
Digital cable channels are touted as being able to offer a higher quality picture than their analog counterparts. This is often true, with a dramatic improvement in
chroma resolution
(120 lines for
NTSC
versus 270 for digital). However, digital compression has a tendency to soften the quality of the television picture, particularly of channels that are more heavily compressed.
Pixelation
and other artifacts are often visible.
Set-top boxes
[
edit
]
Subscribers wishing to have access to digital cable channels must have a special
cable converter box
, (or, more recently, a "Digital Cable Ready" television) and a
CableCARD
to receive them.
AllVid
is a CableCARD replacement proposed by the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), U.S.A
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), intended to provide bidirectional compatibilities such as interactive programming guides, video-on-demand and pay-per-view, since retail CableCARD-ready devices are unable to access such systems.
[21]
[22]
[23]
Cable television fees and programming lineups
[
edit
]
Cable television systems impose a monthly fee depending on the number and perceived quality of the channels offered. Cable television subscribers are offered various packages of channels one can subscribe to. The cost of each package depends on the type of channels offered (basic vs. premium) and the quantity. These fees cover the fees paid to individual cable channels for the right to carry their programming, as well as the cost of operating and maintaining the cable television system so that their signals can reach subscribers' homes. Additional
cable television franchise fees
and taxes are often tacked on by local, state, and federal governments.
Most cable systems divide their channel lineups ("tiers") into three or four basic channel packages. A
must-carry
rule requires all cable television systems to carry all full-power local commercial broadcast stations in the designated
television market
on their lineups, unless those stations opt to invoke
retransmission consent
and demand compensation, in which case the cable provider can decline to carry the channel (especially if the provider feels that the rate of carrying an existing service would result in an increase of the average price of a tier to levels to which it could result in a subscriber possibly dropping the service).
Cable television systems are also required to offer a subscription package that provides these broadcast channels at a lower rate than the standard subscription rate. The basic programming package offered by cable television systems is usually known as "basic cable" and provides access to a large number of cable television channels, as well as broadcast television networks (e.g.,
ABC
,
CBS
,
NBC
,
Fox
,
The CW
,
MyNetworkTV
,
Telemundo
,
Univision
,
UniMas
,
PBS
),
public, educational, and government access
channels, free or low-cost public service channels such as
C-SPAN
and
NASA TV
, and several channels devoted to
infomercials
,
brokered
televangelism
and
home shopping
to defray costs. Some providers may provide a small number of national cable networks in their basic lineups. Most systems differentiate between basic cable, which has locals, home shopping channels and local-access television channels, and expanded basic (or "standard"), which carries most of the better-known national cable networks. Most basic cable lineups have approximately 20 channels overall, while expanded basic has
channel capacity
for as many as 70 channels. Under U.S. regulations, the price of basic cable can be regulated by local authorities as part of their
franchise agreements
. Standard, or expanded basic, cable is not subject to price controls.
In addition to the basic cable packages, all systems offer premium channel add-on packages offering either just one premium network (for example, HBO) or several premium networks for one price (for example, HBO and Showtime together). Finally, most cable systems offer
pay-per-view
channels where users can watch individual movies, live events, sports and other programs for an additional fee for single viewing at a scheduled time (this is generally the main place where
pornographic content
airs on American cable). Some cable systems have begun to offer
on-demand programming
, where customers can select programs from a list of offerings including recent releases of movies, concerts, sports, first-run television shows and specials and start the program whenever they wish, as if they were watching a DVD or a VHS tape (although some on demand services, generally those offered by broadcast networks, restrict the ability to fast forward through a program). Some of the offerings have a cost similar to renting a movie at a video store while others are free. On-demand content has slowly been replacing traditional pay-per-view for pre-recorded content; pay-per-view remains popular for live combat sports events (boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling).
Additional subscription fees are also usually required to receive digital cable channels.
Many cable systems operate as
de facto
monopolies in the United States. While exclusive franchises are currently prohibited by federal law, and relatively few franchises were ever expressly exclusive, frequently only one cable company offers cable service in a given community.
[24]
Overbuilders
in the U.S., other than telephone companies with existing infrastructure, have traditionally had severe difficulty in financial and market penetration numbers. Overbuilders have had some success in the
MDU
market, in which relationships are established with landlords, sometimes with contracts and exclusivity agreements for the buildings, sometimes to the anger of tenants. The rise of
direct broadcast satellite
systems providing the same type of programming using small satellite receivers, and of
Verizon FiOS
and other recent ventures by
incumbent local exchange carriers
such as
U-verse
, have also provided competition to incumbent cable television systems.
Subscriber fees
[
edit
]
Many cable channels charge cable providers "subscriber fees," in order to carry their content. The fee that the cable service provider must pay to a cable television channel can vary depending on whether it is a basic or
premium channel
and the perceived popularity of that channel. Because cable service providers are not required to carry all cable channels, they may negotiate the fee they will pay for carrying a channel. Typically, more popular cable channels command higher fees. For example,
ESPN
typically charges $10 per month for its suite of networks ($7 for the main channel alone), by far the highest of any non-premium American cable channel, comparable to the premium channels, and rising rapidly.
[25]
Other widely viewed cable channels have been able to command fees of over 50 cents per subscriber per month; channels can vary widely in fees depending on if they are included in package deals with other channels.
Statistics
[
edit
]
Total US cable subscribers by year
Year
|
Cable TV subscribers
|
Telephone company TV subscribers
|
Jan. 1970
|
4,500,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1975
|
9,800,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1980
|
16,000,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1984
|
30,000,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1985
|
32,000,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1986
|
37,500,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1987
|
41,100,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1988
|
44,000,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1989
|
47,500,000
[26]
|
|
Jan. 1990
|
50,000,000
[26]
|
|
Dec. 1990
|
51,700,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1991
|
53,400,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1992
|
55,200,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1993
|
57,200,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1994
|
59,700,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1995
|
62,100,000
[27]
|
|
Dec. 1996
|
63,500,000
[5]
|
|
Dec. 1997
|
64,900,000
[5]
|
|
Dec. 1998
|
66,100,000
[5]
|
|
Dec. 1999
|
67,300,000
[5]
|
|
Dec. 2000
|
68,500,000
[5]
|
|
Jun. 2001
|
66,732,000
[28]
|
|
Jun. 2002
|
66,472,000
[28]
|
|
Jun. 2003
|
66,050,000
[28]
|
|
Jun. 2004
|
66,100,000
[28]
|
|
Jun. 2005
|
65,400,000
[29]
|
|
Jun. 2006
|
65,300,000
[29]
|
|
Dec. 2006
|
65,400,000
[30]
|
300,000
[30]
|
Dec. 2007
|
64,900,000
[30]
|
1,300,000
[30]
|
Dec. 2008
|
63,700,000
[30]
|
3,100,000
[30]
|
Dec. 2009
|
62,100,000
[30]
|
5,100,000
[30]
|
Dec. 2010
|
59,800,000
[31]
|
6,900,000
[31]
|
Dec. 2011
|
58,000,000
[31]
|
8,500,000
[31]
|
Dec. 2012
|
56,400,000
[6]
|
9,900,000
[6]
|
Dec. 2013
|
54,400,000
[6]
|
11,300,000
[6]
|
Dec. 2014
|
53,700,000
[32]
|
13,200,000
[32]
|
Dec. 2015
|
63,223,000
[33]
|
13,041,000
[33]
|
Dec. 2016
|
97,000,000
[34]
|
|
Dec. 2017
|
94,300,000
[35]
|
|
Dec. 2018
|
93,400,000
[35]
|
|
Dec. 2019
|
88,600,000
[35]
|
|
Dec. 2020
|
83,800,000
[35]
|
|
Dec. 2021
|
80,000,000
[35]
|
|
Dec. 2022
|
76,000,000
[35]
|
|
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"History of Cable Television"
. National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Archived from
the original
on 2010-09-05
. Retrieved
8 December
2012
.
- ^
"History of Cable - CCTA"
. California Cable & Telecommunications Association. Archived from
the original
on September 19, 2020
. Retrieved
May 19,
2021
.
- ^
"The Rise of Cable Television"
.
Encyclopedia.com
. Retrieved
June 14,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"SNL Kagan U.S. Cable TV Summary Data"
. Marketing Charts
. Retrieved
8 December
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"8th Annual Video Competition Report"
. Federal Communications Commission. 14 Jan 2002. p. 87
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"16th Report On Video Competition"
. Federal Communications Commission. 31 Mar 2015
. Retrieved
26 Apr
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Kennedy, Sam (4 March 2007).
"Cable TV invented in Mahanoy City"
.
The Morning Call
. Allentown, PA.
- ^
Parsons, Patrick R. (1996). "Two tales of a city: John Walson Sr., Mahanoy city, and the "founding"; of cable TV".
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
.
40
(3): 354?365.
doi
:
10.1080/08838159609364358
.
The claim, however, has always been clouded by questions and a lack of documentation. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the Walson story. It concludes that, as bright and promising as the Walson tale may be, it probably is not true. At the very least, the preponderance of evidence suggests that Walson got his start in the community antenna television business in late 1950, about the same time as many others around the country
- ^
Sullivan, Bob. "
Cable TV: King of misleading come-ons
."
NBC News
.
January 28, 2008. Retrieved on January 29, 2008. Web page excerpted from GOTCHA CAPITALISM by Bob Sullivan. Copyright (c) 2007 by BobSullivan. Reprinted by arrangement with The Random House Publishing Group.
- ^
"Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons Collection"
. The Cable Center. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-13
. Retrieved
April 28,
2009
.
- ^
"Past Cable Hall of Fame Honorees"
.
The Cable Center
. Archived from
the original
on 12 March 2014
. Retrieved
12 March
2014
.
- ^
Hodgins, Eric (1957-06-10).
"Amid Ruins of an Empire a New Hollywood Arises"
.
Life
. p. 146
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
Massey, Kimberly.
"Freeze of 1948"
.
Museum of Broadcast Television
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-03-23
. Retrieved
2008-01-25
.
- ^
"Cable Pioneer Yolanda Barco Dies at 74." Multichannel News, 6/12/2000, p. 16
- ^
Media Management in the Age of Giants, Business Dynamics of Journalism
. Iowa State University Press, first edition 2003. Second edition, University of New Mexico Press, 2012. 2012.
ISBN
9780826351630
. Retrieved
2013-05-13
.
- ^
Mullen, Megan. The Rise of Cable Programming in the United States: Revolution or Evolution? Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003.
- ^
Chozick, Amy; Carter, Bill (2012-03-26).
"FX Rides Risky Series to a Big Reward"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2019-10-05
.
- ^
Holloway, Daniel (2019-06-11).
"How FX Chief John Landgraf Built One of TV's Hottest Brands"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
2019-10-05
.
- ^
Fabrikant, Geraldine.
MEDIA; Need ESPN but Not MTV? Some Push for That Option
.
The New York Times
: May 31, 2004.
- ^
Conda, Cesar V (2006-01-13).
"Cable, A La Carte?"
.
National Review
.
CBS News
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-13
. Retrieved
2007-07-05
.
- ^
AllVid Notice of Inquiry
, 25
FCC Rcd
4275
(adopted April 21, 2010)
- ^
Wolf, Michael (11 February 2014).
"Why Big Cable Fears AllVid ? and Why It Shouldn't"
.
GigaOM
.
- ^
25
FCC Rcd
14657
,
14661
(adopted October 14, 2010)
- ^
Goodale, James C., and Frieden, Rob.
All About Cable and Broadband
. Law Journal Press, 2010, sec. 4.02[1], p. 4-7 & note 9, and sec. 4.02[4], pp. 4-28 and 4-29. The federal prohibition is found at 47 U.S.C. sec. 541(a)(1).
- ^
Nocera, Joe (April 28, 2017).
"ESPN Can't Afford to Go On Like This"
.
Bloomberg.com
. Retrieved
April 28,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Cable Television--Systems and Subscribers statistics - USA Census numbers"
.
allcountries.org
. Retrieved
2023-03-09
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"4th Annual Video Competition Report"
. United States Federal Communications Commission. 13 Jan 1998. p. 142
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"11th Annual Video Competition Report"
. Federal Communications Commission. 4 Feb 2005. p. 115
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"13th Annual Video Competition Report"
. Federal Communications Commission. 16 Jan 2009. p. 143
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"FCC Releases 14th Video Competition Report"
. Federal Communications Commission. 20 Jul 2012. p. 60
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"15th Report On Video Competition"
. Federal Communications Commission. 22 Jul 2013. p. 61
. Retrieved
29 Mar
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"17th Report On Video Competition"
(PDF)
. Federal Communications Commission. 6 May 2016
. Retrieved
25 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"18th Report On Video Competition"
(PDF)
. Federal Communications Commission. 17 January 2017
. Retrieved
7 March
2017
.
- ^
"Number of pay TV households in the U.S. 2026"
.
Statista
. Retrieved
2023-01-18
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"IBISWorld - Industry Market Research, Reports, and Statistics"
.
www.ibisworld.com
. Retrieved
2023-01-18
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Caruso, Thomas P and Mark R Harsch.
"Joint Ventures in the Cable and Videotex Industries"
. Masters' Thesis in Management, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Jun 1984.
- Eisenmann, Thomas R.,
"Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities"
,
Harvard Business School
Weekly Newsletter
, July 10, 2000
- Lockman, Brian and Dan Sarvey.
Pioneers of Cable Television
. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005.
- Moss, Mitchell L.; Payne, Frances,
"Can Cable Keep Its Promise?"
,
New York Affairs
, Volume 6, Number 4. New York University. 1981
- Mullen, Megan.
The Rise of Cable Programming in the United States: Revolution or Evolution?
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003.
- Mullen, Megan.
Television in the Multichannel Age: A Brief History of Cable Television
. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008.
- Parsons, Patrick R.
Blue Skies: A History of Cable Television
. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008.
- Parsons, Patrick R and Robert M. Frieden.
The Cable and Satellite Television Industries
. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.
- Smith, Ralph Lee, "The Wired Nation",
The Nation
magazine, May 18, 1970
- Smith, Ralph Lee,
The Wired Nation; Cable TV: the electronic communications highway
. New York, Harper & Row, 1972.
ISBN
0-06-090243-4
- Southwick, Thomas P.
Distant Signals: How Cable TV Changed the World of Telecommunications
. Overland Park, KS: Primedia Intertec, 1998.
External links
[
edit
]
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Stations and networks
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Awards and events
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Organizations
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History
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