Cable Television

Cable Television

about 70 percent of U.S. households have cable TV

Top 25 Cable SystemsTop 25 MSO’s (Multiple System

Operator))

Cable Networks

TedTurner

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda

RupertMurdoch

Cable and Satellite: Early Years

• Late 1940s: CATV(Community Antenna Television)

• Used to bring broadcast signal to people in…..

Cable and Satellite: Early Years

Rural mountainous or hilly regions

Cable and Satellite: Early Years

big cities (tall buildings)

Cable HELPED broadcasters get their signal to a wider audience….

But then Cable began to THREATEN, not help, broadcasters….

Cable and Satellite: Early Years

Satellites: Envisioned in 1945 by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke

(author of 2001: A Space Odyssey)

Clarke article, 1945

Clarke article, 1945

Cable and Satellite:Early Years

• Clarke: imagined 3 satellites in geosynchronous orbit (22,300 miles from earth, traveling at 6,800 mph)

• In this orbit, satellites maintain the same footprint

1958: First satellite launched (Explorer I)

1960: Echo satellite launched: (geosynchronous orbit)

First Communication Satellite Launched :

TelStar1962

(Kennedy era)

Today there are 2,500 satellites (operative and inoperative): J-Track/Nasa shows 900

Did you know there are over eight thousand artificial objects orbiting Earth? Over 2,500 are satellites, operative and inoperative. The remaining objects are orbital debris: parts such as nosecone shrouds, lens, hatch covers, rocket bodies, payloads that have disintegrated or exploded, and even objects that "escape" from manned spacecraft during operations.

--NASA

FCC protects Broadcasting

1. 1965 - The “Must Carry” rule– Local Cable company MUST carry local

broadcasting Channels

2. 1970s - Franchising begins – Only one cable company per municipality– Competition to win cable franchises. – Usually a 15-year monopoly

FCC protects Broadcasting(and supports democracy)

3. By 1972, all cable companies had to supply - Access Channels (PEG)

– (public, education, government)

Bigger threat to broadcasting: New Content

1. HBO (1975) --just movies2. Showtime (1976) --just movies

3. WTBS (1976): 1st Superstation

TBS: Logos, 1976 until today

later other superstations: WGN [Chicago, 1978]WWOR [New York/NJ, 1978]

Satellites: New Content

Cable begins to GROW•CNN (1980)

“Chicken noodle network”

Satellites: New Content

•MTV (1981)(video killed the radio star)

Discovery Channel, launched 1985

Comedy Central, launched 1989

= Franchising FRENZYIntense competition to acquire cable franchises

FCC Allows Cable to GROW:softens rules

(DBS is on the Horizon)

• 1992 - Must Carry rules are relaxed– Every three years, choose Must Carry (no $)

or Retransmission Consent (get $)– Some large broadcast station chains use

Retransmission consent to leverage new cable channels

• Public access rules are eventually relaxed

Fox News--network launched 1996

Fox News--network launched 1996

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

• More than 250 cable video services offered nationally

• About 7,090 cable Systems• Cable is available to 97% of all

households• 73 % of all U.S. households

subscribe to cable• (27 % use rabbit ears)

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

Network Broadcasting: “satisfy the masses”

Cable Services: niche programming

Planned and Existing Networks

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

GROUP PROJECT:Divide into groups of 6Propose a new cable channel that does

two things:a) It should find a unique market nicheb) It should be successful: drawing an

audience that appeals to advertisers (be ready to name advertisers)

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

RULE #1: IT CAN’T BE YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC

Rule #2: It can’t involve “the 80s” in terms Of programming or culture

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

• Basic Cable - cable systems pay between – 5 cents (C-SPAN) – more than $3 (ESPN) =per subscriber, per month

(A la carte cable?)• Premium Cable

– HBO– Showtime

• Pay-per-view and Interactive Cable

Cable Programming: Narrowcasting

• VOD - Video on Demand. – Biggest new service. – For digital cable customers. – Downloads programs to digital cable

set top box.

Ownership in Cable• About 7.090 Cable Systems • Most of cable is controlled by MSOs

(multiple system owners)

• Top 5 MSOs control about 70% of cable audience. (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Cablevision)

– Prices keep going up– Increasing amounts of advertising

Ownership in Cable

1996 Telecommunications Act

Ownership in Cable

• 1996 TeleCommunications Act:– ended rate regulation.– Allowed cable and other businesses to enter

each other’s industries (e.g., cable companies now getting into telephone service).

– Despite “promises,” cable rates have REMAINED HIGH AND INCREASED.

– Less than 5 percent of cable customers have competition, which lowers prices significantly

– (Cedar Falls example).

Video: Cable and the 1996 Telecommunication Act

Ownership in Cable

• Cedar Falls Utilities(also Spencer, Hawarden, Larens) have

invested in city-owned cable operating systems.

• Ensured that Cedar Falls was part of the Internet revolution early on.

Broadcast Satellites

•DBS: DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE

= BIG THREAT TO CABLE

Broadcast Satellites

• How satellite companies operate

C-Bands: Huge dishes

Broadcast Satellites

Ku-bands: DirectTV /News trucks, etc.

Vincor: satellite company

Broadcast Satellites

• mid-1970s. Big Dish (6.5-10 feet) satellites appear in rural areas.

• 1994. DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) television begins. (3 feet or less)

• DirecTV (owned by News Corp.) and EchoStar are the main corporations.

• DirectV merges with Echostar, 2007--FCC JUST APPROVED IT BUT NOT QUITE DONE YET

Broadcast Satellites

• Satellite Radio– XM– Sirius

Broadcast Satellites

• Satellite Radio– XM– Sirius

• INTERNET: download & Stream programming