Satellite and Cable For Television Connoisseurs

There are those individuals for whom television is more than an entertainment medium, it is the part of popular culture with which they are the most familiar. Most often, these are the sort of people who know television from an historical perspective, are able to reference shows from throughout the 50 plus years the medium has been the dominant entertainment venue and who enjoy programming that spans many genres and decades. For such individuals, subscription television is a given, the comparatively few channels offered by broadcast services not being adequate to keep their interest.

During the mid-twentieth Century, cable television was the only option for those who truly love their television. Compared to the broadcast networks, it was a great improvement. Access to many more channels and, among those channels, the presence of "movie channels" made the choice to upgrade to subscription services a natural one. Subscription television most often did not sign-off during the small hours, something which nightshift workers and night-owls alike learned to appreciate. By the 1980's, large satellite dishes were popping up in yards across the nation, promising another television option that would eventually become the dominant subscription choice, though not yet in a packaged form.

As satellite services became available from subscription television providers, the sizes of the dishes decreased and the initial investment-oftentimes into the thousands of dollars for one of the original satellite setups-was reduced to literally nothing as satellite companies adopted a business model based on free installation for new customers. The dishes, by the early 1990's, had gone from the size of a large banquet table to a device that two individuals could easily lift and carry and which fit on a rooftop. This convenience drew many more subscribers.

As digital technology increased in sophistication, it became easier for the satellite providers to add more services to their subscriptions. Because satellite broadcasts are digital in any incarnation, the addition of such services was a natural fit, eventually evolving into screen-within-screen technology, interactive menus, pay per view offerings and other features that made the service more attractive to subscribers. By the early 21st Century, satellite had become the dominant subscription service and the continually-smaller dishes were popping up all over the world. The service has continued to grow in popularity since.

Satellite's success has been largely one based on its pricing model. While cable does offer far more channels than broadcast, the cost per channel with a cable subscription is generally higher than it is with satellite. Upgrades in service are generally more expensive, as well. For those who enjoy a great deal of television, satellite started to assert itself as a more attractive option. As channel selections expanded, satellite added more to its lineup than did cable and added more high-definition broadcasting, as well, making it more attractive to those who had decided to purchase an HDTV. As was the case when the choice was between cable and broadcast, the service with the most channels is dominant.

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