Cable television is a system of distributing television programs to subscribers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial

cables or digital light pulses through hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) networks. This contrasts with traditional broadcast television (terrestrial television) in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radio waves and received by a television antenna attached to the television. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone service, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. The abbreviation CATV is often used for cable television. It originally stood for Community Access Television or Community Antenna Television, from cable television's origins in 1948: in areas where over-the-air reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large "community antennas" were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. The origins of cablebroadcasting are even older as radio programming was distributed by cable in some European cities as far back as 1924. Description In order to receive cable television at a given location, cable distribution lines must be available on the local utility poles or underground utility lines. Coaxial cable brings the signal to the customer's building through aservice drop, an overhead or underground cable. The standard cable used in the U.S. is RG-6, which has a 75 ohm impedance, and conn

ects with a type F connector. The cable company's portion of the wiring usually ends at a distribution box on the building exterior, and built-in cable usually distributes the signal through the walls to jacks in different rooms to which televisions are connected. Multiple cables to different rooms are split off the incoming cable with a small device called a splitter. Most American television sets are cable-ready and have a television tuner capable of receiving older analog cable TV (UK televisions are set up to receive Freeview digital terrestrial broadcasting). The cable from the wall is attached directly to the "Antenna In" connector on the back of the television. To receive newer digital cable most TVs require a "digital television adapter" (set top box) called a cable converter, connected between the incoming cable and the TV, that processes digital signals. Most cable systems are required by their franchise agreement to offer some channels, including local broadcast stations, educational, and community access channels (PEG), for a low rate; this is called "Basic Cable".

1.

How it works

In the most common system, multiple television channels (as many as 500) are distributed to subscriber residences through a coaxial cable, which comes from a trunkline supported on utility poles originating at the cable company's local distribution facility, called the headend. Multiple channels are transmitted through the cable by a technique called frequency division multiplexing. At the headend, each television channel is translated to a different frequency. By giving each channel a different frequency "slot" on the cable the separate television signals do not interfere. At the subscriber's residence, either the subscriber's television or aset-top box provided by the cable company translates the desired channel back to its original frequency (baseband), and it is displayed on the screen. Due to widespread cable theft in earlier analog systems, in modern digital cable systems the signals are encrypted, and the set-top box must be activated by an activation code sent by the cable company before it will function, which is only sent after the subscriber signs up. There are also usually "upstream" channels on the cable, to send data from the customer box to the cable headend, for advanced features such as requesting pay-perview shows, cable internet access, and cable telephone service. The "downstream" channels occupy a band of frequencies from approximately 50 MHz to 1 GHz, while the "upstream" channels occupy frequencies of 5 to 42 MHz. Subscribers pay with a monthly fee. Subscribers can choose from several levels of service, with "premium" packages including more channels but costing more. At the local headend, the feed signals from the individual television channels are received by dish antennasfrom communication satellites. Additional local channels, such as local broadcast television stations,educational channels from local colleges, and community access channels devoted to local governments (PEG channels) are usually included on the cable. Commercial advertisements for local business are also inserted in the programming at the headend (the individual channels, which are distributed nationally, also have their own nationally oriented commercials).

2.

History and beginnings of Cable TV-originated live programs

During the 1980s, mandated regulations not unlike Public, educational, and government access(PEG) channels created the beginning of the Cableoriginated live television program that evolved into what we know today in 2012 where many cable networks provide live cable-only broadcasts of many varieties, cable-only produced television movies, and miniseries. Various live local programs with local interests were rapidly being created all over the United States in most major television markets in the early 1980s. One of the first was with the local ATC broadcasting station in Columbus, Ohio, the company being based

in Colorado at the time, where, in 1982, at the age of 16, while still in high school, Richard Sillman was one of if not the youngest Cable TV Director in the US of these live on-air Cable TV programs. With the development of the internet, by the late 1990s and early 2000, much of that regulation had been replaced where newer industry technologies developed, offering viewers alternate choices for local events and programming leading to what is today, that being Digital Cable, Internet, and Phone being offered to consumers, bundled, by 2010. 1.5 Brief History of Cable Television The traditional mass media had a confined sphere in countries where it initially grew, functioning strictly in line with the values, norms, traditions and basic requirements of the local populace. But, the invention of new technologies like satellite communication, cable television and internet has helped it cross national boundaries and address the worldwide audience. These boosting inventions have, in fact, made the world a global village by transforming media into an international entity. We are living in an era which has frequently been characterized as the age of communication revolution a cycle of profound and accelerating social and cultural change often attributed to the impact of new media technologies. This communication revolution is, in fact, a succession of three overlapping technological stages that have taken place during the last 150 years (Zia, 2003, p.1). Encyclopedia Britannica (1986) describes cable television that generally, a system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable television system

originated in United States in the early 1950s and was designed to improve reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. 1.6 World History of Cable Television John Walson, an appliance storeowner in a small town of Mahanoy, had difficulty selling television sets to local residents because reception in the area was poor. The problem seemed to be the location of the town in a valley and nearly 90 air miles from the Philadelphia television transmitters. Naturally, signals could not pass through mountains and clear reception was virtually impossible except on the ridges outside of town. It was frustrating for those who had just purchased an expensive set but not receiving clear transmission. Reasons for poor reception were well-understood. For one thing, the early transmitters were not very powerful. If one lived close to the station, there 10 were few limitations. But for those living some distance away, reception could be poor, the picture was often fuzzy, distorted or faint. Even a passing car could create electrical interference and fill the screen with snow or cause the picture to roll. In addition, the fact that television signals travel in a straight line reduced the quality of reception or even made it impossible behind large buildings on the back side of hills or mountains and in

similar positions. To solve his problem, Mr. Walson put an antenna on the top of a large utility pole and installed it on the top of a nearby mountain. Television signals were received and transported over twin lead antenna wire down to his store. Once people saw these early results, television sales soared. It became his responsibility to improve the picture quality by using coaxial cable and self- manufactured boosters (amplifiers to bring cable television to the homes of customers who bought television sets. And as such the cable television was born in June 1948. In the early 1950s, television was fairly new. Though it had not yet become popular, city department stores displayed many different models for sale. And, like an apartment house where every resident had his/her own television, the rooftops of stores were beginning to resemble forests of television antennas. Milton Jerrold Shapp, who later became governor of Pennsylvania, developed a system to consolidate the forest of antennas for city department stores and apartment buildings. Under this new system, one master antenna (MATV) could be used for all television in the building. His secret: the coaxial cable and signal boosters (amplifiers) capable of carrying multiple signals at once. At about the same time, in the nearby town of Lansford, another appliance salesman named Robert (Bob) Tarlton experienced similar problems as those faced by

Mr. Walson. He read about Mr. Shapps new system and though it worked for apartment houses and department stores, it could work for his own town as well. While the community was only 65 miles from Philadelphia, it was behind a mountain that interfered with signals. Tarlton decided to try a new approach. He put up a big antenna and for a monthly fee he provided a cable hook-up to each subscribers home. He called his new business the Panther Valley Television Company, and he was able to supply excellent signals to people who could not otherwise operate a receiver. He did not originate any new programming. All he did was to capture network broadcasts with his community antenna and relay them to homes on his system. 11 1.6.1 Cable Develops in the World Pay television was launched in November 1972 when Service Electric offered Home Box Office or HBO over its cable system in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. This represented the first successful pay cable service to the nation. Despite the fact that HBO was only viewed by a few hundred people that first night, it has gone on to become the worlds largest pay cable service with over 11,500,000 viewers. So HBO decided to deliver its signals by satellite. HBO was the first programming service to use a satellite to distribute its

programming. The way it works is that a signal is beamed from the earth to a satellite in a stationary orbit some 22,300 miles over the equator and bounced back to receivers on the earth. By satellite distribution, HBOs signals are available to cable operators throughout North America. Because it is so widely available, it had an advantage over the earthbound, microwave distributed services such as WOR-TV- an independent station in New York city. Cable is in many ways a bit different; however there is certainly a greater variety of choice. For a monthly fee, one can receive the basic service, which is usually a mixed bag that includes network broadcasts plus special channels that feature weather, sports, religious programmes, news, public service announcements, rock music and various other kinds of content. For additional fees one can add movie channels or other special services. .

Cable Television Network in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the cable television network was quietly introduced at a small scale in Karachi in the early 80s in the absence of any regulatory law. It started from the citys apartment buildings and worked without any large-scale equipment because of the close proximity of the apartments. Main attraction for subscribers was Indian and English movies and Ptv dramas which the operators would obtain on rent from nearby video centres. Operation rooms were usually set up in the basements of the buildings, giving

connections to each apartment from there. Each household was paying a small monthly fee to the operator for the service. In 1982, according to Director Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the availability of satellite channels in Pakistan brought about a major change in the cable network operations. Cable operators who were relying on the video cassettes until now felt the need for installing satellite-receiving dishes to provide a variety of programmes to their subscribers through CNN, Star TV and various Indian channels. Thus the large scale cable network emerged out of the already established cable system. Cable system started to expand by a stringing of wires from one rooftop to another and so on. The system in Karachi gradually flourished and many people entered in this business. During early 1990s satellite television became an irresistible phenomenon in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab. But in 1998, all major channels were transferred to 14 decoders, which were a lot more expensive and the annual subscription was also beyond the reach of a common man. A man once setup this satellite system for his own personal use and then started providing this service to neighbouring areas against a small fee. Thus, this gave way to the business of cable television networking which established and flourished in a short period.The government took notice of this illegal operation in the late 1998. The Nawaz Sharif headed government came to conclusion that cable operation be made legal in Pakistan. But before any action could be taken, the Nawaz Sharif government was toppled and the armed forces took command of the nations destiny and started considering legalization of the cable television. The army regime headed by General Musharraf legalized cable television operations in January 2000.The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) started the procedure of issuing licenses to the cable operators in January 2000. The following is the data for the number of issued application forms and responses received till June 2000. PTA chairman Mian Muhammad Javed explained that cable television had now emerged as one of the most inexpensive means of entertainment in the country which government wanted to make more popular among users and viewers by framing policies and proper rules and

regulations to ensure transmission of good programmes through their channels. The legalization process of cable television networks started in November 1998 and completed in 2000. Therefore, in June 2000, cable television networks started functioning legally which initiated a new era of electronic media in Pakistan. This raised a number of new queries and gave an opportunity to people to discuss this new system of communication in Pakistan. Cable Television Licenses There were eight categories of cable television licenses ranging from B-1 to B-8 based on the number of subscribers. Till December 2001, total number of legal cable operators was 840 across the country. Out of these, a majority of operators were based in Karachi,Lahore and in some other major cities of Punjab. For the running of one small set-up at least 8-10 employees were required. About 8,000 people got employment through this system and were providing livelihood to about 50,000 persons. On the other hand illegal cable operators also continued to work. They add up to about 3,000 and were providing employment opportunities to a large number of people (Zia, 2003: 88). PTA issued nationwide licenses to the cable operators and the issuance of the license to an eligible firm(s)/company may take seven days on the receipt of the application. Cable TV Interestingly, cable TV is the largest and fastest-growing medium among the country's electronic media.Some 7.28 billion rupees, it is estimated, have already been pumped into the sector. And the investment is believed to be growing at the phenomenal rate of 132 percent annually. While the sector is employing some 30,000 people, cable TV is estimated to have already entered some four million homes. In the days ahead, cable TV's spread is bound to grow still larger along with its infrastructure, business, workforce and clientele. Almost all the world TV networks have switched over to decoder, an expensive gadgetry not within the means of the bulk of people. But with just a paltry sum, they can access them all through the agency of cable TV. And this is what the people are doing increasingly in Pakistan, as elsewhere in the world. The national cable TV sector is indeed set to prosper because of the Authority's two landmark decisions. One is to allow exceedingly low licence rates, almost 70 percent less than the normal, for establishing cable TV stations in the rural areas. The country folks who make up the 70 percent of our people understandably cannot be left out

from availing of the latest media technologies for entertainment, information and education. They must have as much media access and choices as have their urban cousins. And since the private enterprise is not sufficiently motivated to set shop in remoter areas, some incentives were needed to draw it in there. Hence, this decision. The other is to bring home the Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System (MMDS) as part of the Authority's charter to introduce the latest in media technologies to the country. For its pluses in bandwidth utilization, data transmission, signals quality and distribution spectrum, this most advanced system in digital technology is currently making waves the world over. With its capability to distribute 60 digital channels, the MMDS was a natural choice for the Authority to bring home, to the people's benefit. The process has been set in motion for the establishment of the MMDS stations by private entrepreneurs in the country. Some 18 companies have successfully bid for setting up 24 stations in different cities. This new venture is sure to open up yet another avenue to the private cable sector to flourish. But the CTV sector, sadly, remains problematic. Not infrequently professionalism, ethics and morality are seen here being beheaded nonchalantly at the chopping block of stark business interests. The public outcry never subsides over the cable operators' quality of service and the programme brew they serve to the subscribers. It only rages. Of course, it isn't right to put all the dirty eggs in the cable operators' basket. Nor is it fair to put them in the dock for every act of omission and commission. At least in the choice of channels for viewing, the subscribers can themselves be more prudent and selective. Nevertheless, it is the operators' primary responsibility to give them satisfactory quality service. Indeed, going by the public complaints that the Authority receives formally and informally, it's the quality of service that draws them flak even severer than what they get on the score of pornography and obscenity. So much so, out of the 1004 written complaints that the Authority received during the year, 640 related to the quality of service as against 263 that related to obscenity. The situation on the cable TV's front is disquieting, no doubt. But it isn't irredeemable, either. In fact, the repair process seems to have already begun. The indications are too compelling. As for instance, the cable operators issued licences by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, which was handling this job before the PEMRA's advent, were found evasive in having them renewed. But they have evidently begun

shedding off their initial reluctance and are now increasingly coming forward to get them renewed, presumably for the advantages that accrue in terms of protections, safeguards and security from being a PEMRA family's member. Nearly half of them had done it by the year's end. The rest were expected to follow suit. The Authority has set up a slew of systems and mechanisms, all having full legal backup, to put order to the as-yet somewhat chaotic cable TV sector. With the establishment of its fully functional regional offices, armed with inspection teams, and the Councils of Complaints, plus its own paraphernalia at the head office, the Authority has acquired a sizeable muscle to exact compliance from cable operators to its regulatory regime and the code of ethics, flush out those operating illegally, collect its dues and recover arrears from them. Nonetheless, the Authority's preferred instrument still remains the language of persuasion than the stick of law. It is the Authority's firm conviction that persuasion works well to keep the people on the right track and impel the erring to mend their ways. The stick, at times, creates problems where none exist, unnecessarily precipitates avoidable tensions and conflicts, and even throws up undesirable crises. The Authority has sought to involve the community intimately, actively and in an organized manner in its vigilance of the cable TV sector. Worth particular mention is the creation of a countrywide PEMRA Friends club, composed of public-spirited people, educationists, social workers, journalists, local opinion leaders, and retired judges and civil and military officers. They volunteered to get drafted in the campaign in response to the Authority's public call. Some 102 of them are already in position in various cities. They monitor the cable operations in their neighbourhoods for quality of service and channels and programmes being put out and report to the Authority. There is nothing unusual about this kind of voluntary system of monitoring. It is in vogue in many a country, not just in the media field but in diverse other domains. In fact, some states have found business rivalries and jealousies as a great revealer of the errant, the deviant and the evader. In our case, the induction of volunteers in the monitoring of cable TV networks was far more compelling due to their expanse. They spread out all over the country, a span that understandably is impossible to scan by the Authority all alone. It is too big for its own enforcement staff to monitor, and will remain so. Rather, this deficiency is bound to increase in view of the magnitude and speed with which the cable TV is expanding in the country. And consequently more voluntary inductions for monitoring activity would be required by the Authority. All said and told, the mechanisms and systems instituted by the Authority to keep an eye on cable operations are demonstrably working and paying off. it would be

unrealistic to assume there would be ever no errors or erratic behaviours. Speaking realistically, in spite of all its monitoring and enforcement mechanisms of the Authority, wrongs will be committed because that is how the human nature works. But what is important is to note that there is a perceptible turnaround in the situation. And there is a definite positive change in the cable operator community's own outlook and thinking. And it would not be wrong to say that in times ahead the abiders will be far more than the offenders.

Cultural Transformation through Satellite Cable TV in Pakistan An Analysis of Audience Perspective Abdul Waheed Rana* S.Anwar Iqbal* Abstract The paper is the result of extensive field research conducted in major cities and towns in Pakistan during the period 2004-05 and the data was revised during the year 200607. The data primarily was collected for a project on social impact of cable satellite television in Pakistan conducted by the authors for Department of Anthropology, Quaid-e-Azam University , and Islamabad under the sponsorship of Higher Education Commission. The primary data which has been used in the paper includes surveys, indepth interviews, focus group discussions and content analysis of various TV programmes and channels. This paper attempts to answer two basic questions; what is available on satellite TV in terms of contents and how people are responding to the new messages in their social life? The impact of television on Pakistani society is enormous and wide ranging. The country which initially had one television channel has now access to over fifty satellite channels available through a wide cable distribution system. This influx of information has affected the Pakistani culture in multiple ways. All age groups, sexes and political and social institutions have undergone dramatic changes over the last fifteen years with the advent of satellite TV channels in Pakistan . The authors have attempted to analyze the impact of different TV programmes on the society in comparison with State-controlled Public Sector TV Pakistan Television (PTV). The major areas covered are; the impact on youth, children, women, students and general public. The primary focus is the impact and resulting reaction of various population segments on these programmes. The results of the study suggest that the satellite TV has been received generally in positive sense. However, caution was also voiced by a cross section of society. The impact has been

evaluated in cultural perspective using the Anthropological technique of participant observation and in-depth structured and open -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Assistant Chief Mass Media Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan * Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad ended interviews. It has been concluded that the satellite television channels are not a threat but provide an open arena for information sharing. The role of the state should be as a guide not the controller and custodian. The dismal experience of PTV programming has strengthened the notion that State should stay-away from direct broadcasting activities and venturing to enter into competition with private sector. The people are conscious and cautious of the impact and want electronic media to fight back by strengthening their own cultural value system and traditional modes of living. The changes are natural and not controllable; thus should be seen and taken under the wider perspective of ongoing process ofglobalization and technology advancement. Introduction In Pakistan , television broadcasting has established an intrinsic relation with the public. On the one hand State television lacks research on the audience to uncover its viewing tastes and preferences, while on the other, both public and private means of organizing television feed back on a global, national and regional issues, through drama and entertainment, and the political information necessary for the functioning of democracy has remained absent for almost 25 years till the time, the satellite TV arrived in 1990s. The notion of a specifically nationally defined public service is being undermined by less professional state television. The conception of public service broadcasting, coined in UK by BBC in 1920s, was originally based on the principles of universality and equality of access, as well as the desire to educate the populace while binding them together in a nationally imagined community through a blend of information, education and entertainment. The Pakistanis it seemed were bound together by their inability to adopt other cultures, denial of artistic expressions, and hatred of new thoughts. It is unlikely that any serious attempt could be made today to claim that the nation has a culture in common. The migration of peoples to other continents and the influence of a global culture have shattered national cohesion, although it remains part of a wider nostalgia. But it also gives rise to pessimism, as the market driven multi-channel universe is likely to be based upon low production costs and a conglomeratedominance of news and

entertainment. Public service's most recent response is the potential development of more regional programming (PTV national channel for example). The decentralization of program production and content away from the national center has both pluralist and democratic pretensions. There are also profound dangers if regional broadcasting becomes merely a reaction to globalizing processes and only offers a platform for local forms of parochialism. One of the principal features of public service broadcasting is that it allows the nation to enter into conversation with itself is Cable satellite television with more specialist channels successful to provide a plurality of 'quality programming' could further atomize the audience. At global level, a policy of 'Television without Frontiers' has been adopted along with certain minimal forms of regulation in respect to pornography, violence and racism. This enables nation states to curb the transmission of offensive material. As yet there has been no concerted attempt to regulate the concentration of cross-media, multipleownership world-wide. Surprisingly, Pakistan has allowed cross-media ownership in the year 2003. This still leaves us with multiple problems and issues. The most pressing issue here is that culturally and politically Pakistan is very difficult to define. The State itself has recently been struggling to assert a cultural identity of its own in the face of fragmentation and the influx of American culture. Indeed the most important cultural issue facing Pakistan is the current explosion of tensions and terrorism and political hatred. These are obviously not problems that can be solved by Mass Media Policy alone. Although it forms the backcloth of any attempt to rethink its importance in a national context.