Definition of cable television

The term "cable television" refers to a technology that distributes television programming through a network of cables instead of traditional over-the-air broadcasting. The word "cable" comes from the coaxial cables that carry the signals from the broadcast stations to subscribers' homes or businesses. In the early 1940s, a few rudimentary cable television systems were set up in rural communities that couldn't receive signals from distant broadcast towers due to topography or weather conditions. These systems delivered signals from VHF and UHF broadcast stations over copper cables, which gradually improved in quality as new amplification and compression technologies were developed. As demand for more programming and higher-quality picture and sound grew, cable television networks began to hire broadcasters to produce original content specifically for distribution via cable systems. This, coupled with the ability to receive programming from multiple stations simultaneously over shared coaxial cables, gave rise to the concept of "cable channels," which began to appear in the 1970s. Today, cable television networks continue to innovate and evolve, delivering a wide range of programming via traditional wired connections and newer, internet-based streaming services. The term "cable television" remains a fixture in popular culture, although its meaning has broadened to include any method of delivering MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) services, including satellite, fiber-optic, and wireless technologies.