1. Cable Television

3. about 70 percent of U.S. households have cable TV
Cable Television
about 70 percent of U.S. households have cable TV

5. Top 25 Cable Systems
Top 25 MSO’s (Multiple System Operator))
Cable Networks

7. Ted
Turner

8. Ted Turner and Jane Fonda

9. Rupert
Murdoch

13. Cable and Satellite: Early Years
Late 1940s: CATV
(Community Antenna Television)
Used to bring broadcast signal to people in…..

14. Cable and Satellite: Early Years
Rural mountainous or hilly regions

15. Cable and Satellite: Early Years
big cities
(tall buildings)

16. Cable HELPED broadcasters get their signal to a wider audience….
But then Cable began to THREATEN, not help, broadcasters….

19. Cable and Satellite: Early Years
Satellites: Envisioned in 1945 by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke
(author of 2001: A Space Odyssey)

20. Clarke article, 1945

21. Clarke article, 1945

22. 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

23. 1958: First satellite launched
(Explorer I)
1960: Echo satellite launched: (geosynchronous orbit)

24. First Communication Satellite Launched :
TelStar
1962
(Kennedy era)

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

26. 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

27. FCC protects Broadcasting
The “Must Carry” rule
Local Cable company MUST carry local broadcasting Channels
s - Franchising begins
Only one cable company per municipality
Competition to win cable franchises.
Usually a 15-year monopoly

32. FCC protects Broadcasting (and supports democracy)
3. By 1972, all cable companies had to supply - Access Channels (PEG)
(public, education, government)

33. Bigger threat to broadcasting: New Content
HBO (1975) --just movies
2. Showtime (1976) --just movies
3. WTBS (1976): 1st Superstation

34. TBS: Logos, 1976 until today

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

38. Satellites: New Content
Cable begins to GROW
CNN (1980)
“Chicken noodle network”

42. Satellites: New Content
MTV (1981)
(video killed the radio star)

43. Discovery Channel,
launched 1985
Comedy Central,
launched 1989

44. Intense competition to acquire cable franchises
= Franchising FRENZY
Intense competition to acquire cable franchises

45. FCC Allows Cable to GROW: softens rules (DBS is on the Horizon)
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

46. Fox News
--network launched
1996

47. Fox News
--network launched
1996

48. 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)

49. Cable Programming: Narrowcasting
Network Broadcasting: “satisfy the masses”
Cable Services: niche programming
Planned and Existing Networks

50. Cable Programming: Narrowcasting
GROUP PROJECT:
Divide into groups of 6
Propose a new cable channel that does two things:
It should find a unique market niche
It should be successful: drawing an audience that appeals to advertisers (be ready to name advertisers)

51. 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

52. 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

53. Cable Programming: Narrowcasting
VOD - Video on Demand.
Biggest new service.
For digital cable customers.
Downloads programs to digital cable set top box.

54. 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

55. Ownership in Cable
1996 Telecommunications Act

56. 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).

57. Video:
Cable and the 1996 Telecommunication Act

58. 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.

59. Broadcast Satellites
DBS: DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE
= BIG THREAT TO CABLE

60. Broadcast Satellites How satellite companies operate
C-Bands: Huge dishes

61. Ku-bands: DirectTV /News trucks, etc.
Broadcast Satellites
Ku-bands: DirectTV /News trucks, etc.

64. Vincor: satellite company

65. Broadcast Satellites
mid-1970s. Big Dish ( 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, FCC JUST APPROVED IT BUT NOT QUITE DONE YET

67. Broadcast Satellites
Satellite Radio XM
Sirius

68. Broadcast Satellites Satellite RadioXM
Sirius
INTERNET: download & Stream programming