Cable Television

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

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

Ted Turner

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda

Rupert Murdoch

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 : TelStar 1962 (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 HBO (1975) --just movies 2. 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

Intense competition to acquire cable franchises = Franchising FRENZY Intense 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 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)

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

Ku-bands: DirectTV /News trucks, etc. 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