How Cable Television Works

Ever wonder how all those television channelsAnyone with a signal receiver from the cable
become available for your viewing pleasure? Well, acompany and a hookup in the wall can receive the
complex system of technologies on Earth and in theprogram at the specified time.
sky work together to bring you each and every oneLive events are broadcast through a mobile satellite
of those channels.truck. The mobile satellite truck takes the live feed
Once a television show is produced, broadcastersand sends it to the satellite, which bounces the signal
from around the world transmit the program toback to Earth to the network for distribution. The
satellites that orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth innetwork then sends the signal on to another satellite
fixed locations above the equator. The signals areor to the fiber optic network for distribution to
bounced back to the Earth over broad, overlappingpeople's homes.
areas that cover almost the entire surface of theIn the very earliest days of television, the technology
populated Earth. Multiple signals are broadcast all atto record programs hadn't been invented yet. These
once, and digital television allows multiple signals tosimple forms of TV took the signal from the camera
use the same bandwidth at once, too.and transmitted it via radio waves or microwaves
Stations located near the cable company sometimesthrough the air to an antenna within the line of sight
transmit their signals through fiber optic networks.of the transmitter. The antenna translated the
This includes local channels and cable channelselectric signals back into the original picture and
operating in major cities.sound, and sent it via a cable to the television set.
When signals are transmitted over a fiber opticThe line of sight nature of the signals made them
network, there is no delay from being bounced backmuch harder to receive if there was any distance
and forth by satellites. Fiber optics also allow cablefrom the translator station or any object in the path.
companies to serve many more homes with theThat's why people had to adjust their rabbit ears so
same amount of cable.often, and sometimes decorate them with tinfoil so
The signals are then processed by cable televisionthey could receive a decent picture. In the 1950s,
service companies at what are called "antennabefore the invention of cable networks, the only
farms". These antenna farms have both antennaspeople who had television lived in big cities or right
and giant satellite dishes. The different feedsnext door to one of the three big broadcasters.
received by the antennas are modulated to 200This simple system was an amazing process, though
different channels and sent on to customers via acompletely unlike the systems we use today.
system of coaxial cables.Satellites and cables used today allow you to receive
Along the cable system, the cable provider uses athousands of channels of entertainment.
system of amplifiers to boost the signal strength.