Page 1CATV HFC BasicPage 22The “Stone Age” of TVPage 3Television SignalsOriginally, Television signals were only available as broadcasts from antennas located atop towers near large cities.The typical broadcast could only be received within 15 to 50 miles of the transmitter, and if there were hills, valleys or other obstructions, the signal was disrupted.Very few channels existed. The typical viewing area received less than five channels.As long as you got “ Perry Mason” you were happy!To watch your favorite Saturday Night Program, it usually involved multiple adjustments to your roof mounted antenna system.Page 4CATV HistoryCATV - Community Antenna TeleVisionInitially extended the coverage range of the few existing TVstations using a broadband hard-wired distribution networkThere is disagreement as to the history and evolution1948Ed Parson of Astoria, Oregon built the first CATV system bystringing twin-lead transmission wire from housetop tohousetop. Until 1952 wartime and postwar policiesprevented widespread deployment of over-the-air TVbroadcast. This lead to CATVPage 5Community Antenna TV - CATVPage 6Milton Jerrold Shapp1948Milton Jerrold Shapp, former governor of Pennsylvania, returned home from the service.He vacationed at his family home in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania and was unable to receive television signals from either the Philadelphia or New York region.Shapp had a friend who worked as an RF engineer at the Philco Radio plant on Fox Street in Philadelphia. The two decided to erect a large antenna on top of the highest mountain in his Pocono village.Page 7Shapp Forms Jerrold ElectronicsThey ran twin lead antenna wire down the side of the mountain with some newly created broadband amplifiers appropriately spaced along the route to provide good signal quality. Shapp later formed the Jerrold Electronics Company and became a pioneer in the cable industry.1950 Bob Tarlton built a system in Lansford, PA using coaxial cable on utility poles under a franchise from the city.Page 8Shapp Sells Jerrold1967 Shapp sells his interest in Jerrold Electronics to General Instrument as he seeks the office of governor for the state of Pennsylvania.1972 Chuck Dollan and Robert Levy start up Home Box Office.1984 General Instrument has sold over 1 million addressable set-tops (converters) world wide.Page 9CATV Evolution1986 HBO becomes the number one premium cable service.1991 Digital Audio is deployed over cable by several different cable operators providing service by Digital Cable Radio (Music Choice), Digital Music Express (DMX), and the now defunct CD-8.1992 Reed Hunt is appointed to head the FCC by President Clinton, bringing a whole new era to the cable TV industry. Reed Hunt starts out on his path to deregulate cable TV.Page 10De-regulation of Cable1994 Billions of dollars are generated by the federal government as it sells the right to own specific frequency bands.The FCC mandates how cable TV is packaged to subscribers, forcing all US cable operators to perform channel line-up changes.1995 With cable TV fully deregulated, Baby Bells entered the CATV market with tremendous financial resources and start to over build existing cable operators.Page 11Cable Conglomerates1995-1997 Cable operators consolidate holdings and many long time cable operators decide to get out of the business. Opportunity exist for larger companies to buy-out smaller operators. PresentThere are now more that 500 US cable companies / systems. However, as more mergers and acquisitions take place, it is not improbable that in the future you will see less than ten major cable companies that possess all of the marbles.Page 12The Future of CATVNobody can predict the future, but many industry leaders are trying to direct the industry into a fully functional network provider of services like:Video serviceInternet accessDigital telephone serviceDigital audio & videoStock quotesLarge set-top manufacturers have already started mass deployment of digital set-top terminals to a variety of cable operators.Page 13The Future of CATVDigital set-top units receive 64QAM modulated signals delivering MPEG2 digital video and Dolby AC-3 digital audio.This provides the subscriber with pristine quality video and audio equal to that laser disk or DVD video formats. Additionally, future interactive TV services are being developed by programmers. Therefore, the prospect of having 500 video channels is not as much of an impossible dream as it was once considered.Page 14B/Wbroadcast standardestablishedFCC deregulatestelecommunications1948First community antenna television (CATV) systems established1970sSatellitesSuperstationsSpecialty stationsMovie channels1994FCC mandateshow cable TV is packaged to subscribers19961953Colorbroadcast standardestablished1984Stereobroadcast standardestablished1941Time line1991Digital audio(Music Choice, etc.)Timeline History of Cable TelevisionPage 15BroadcastTVVendorsProgrammersCustomersFranchising AuthorityLocal System Operator