independent service, purchased by subscription to cable service systems, whereby television signals are carried to households by direct wires (coaxial or fiber-optic cables). Begun in the late 1940s as Community Antenna Television (CATV), cable television was a method of improving over-the-air television broadcasting, particularly in remote areas where reception was difficult. Essentially, CATV operated by means of a huge master antenna that picked up over-the-air television signals and then transmitted the signals to subscriber homes by cable. With the launching of the Satcom satellite in 1975, a great many more stations and services became available for subscribers, the development of cable-exclusive networks such as ESPN became possible, and cable television began growing at a rapid rate, grabbing a larger and larger share of the national viewing audience every year.
In addition to basic cable service, most cable service systems offer noncommercial movie channels such as Home Box Office (HBO) or Showtime to subscribers for an additional fee.
