A cable television headend is a master facility for receiving television signals for processing and distribution over a cable television system. A headend facility may be staffed or unstaffed and is typically surrounded by some type of security fencing. The building is typically sturdy and purpose-built to provide security, cooling, and easy access for the electronic equipment used to receive and re-transmit video over the local cable infrastructure. One can also find head ends in power-line communication (PLC) substations and Internet communications networks.
Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite, media streaming services and broadband internet services. As at 31 December 2022, Sky had 1,023,378 residential television subscribers consisting of 517,003 satellite subscribers and 506,375 streaming subscribers. Additionally, Sky had 23,156 broadband customers. Despite the similarity of name, branding and services, such as Sky Go and MySky shared with its European equivalent, Sky, there is no connection between the companies.
WBFF is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group, alongside ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. Sinclair maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting, owner of CW affiliate WNUV, and a shared services agreement (SSA) with Deerfield Media, owner of TBD affiliate WUTB.
WNUV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF, for the provision of programming and certain services. However, Sinclair effectively owns WNUV, as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Sinclair also operates TBD affiliate WUTB under a separate shared services agreement (SSA) with Deerfield Media. The stations share studios on 41st Street off the Jones Falls Expressway on Television Hill in the Woodberry neighborhood of north Baltimore; WBFF and WNUV are also broadcast from the same tower on the hill.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial, and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio broadcasting into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used for the same reason as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community antenna television", in order to enhance the quality of over-the-air radio signals that are difficult to receive in an area. However, cable-only radio outlets also exist.
WFUT-DT is a television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving as the UniMás outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network. WFUT-DT is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Paterson, New Jersey–licensed Univision co-flagship WXTV-DT and Smithtown, New York–licensed True Crime Network affiliate WFTY-DT. The stations share studios on Frank W. Burr Boulevard in Teaneck, New Jersey; WFUT-DT and WXTV-DT share transmitter facilities at the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan.
WDCW, branded on-air as DCW 50, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Hagerstown, Maryland–licensed independent station WDVM-TV ; the two stations share studios on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington's Glover Park neighborhood. Through a channel sharing agreement with Univision station WFDC-DT, WDCW transmits using WFDC's spectrum from a tower in the Tenleytown area of Washington's Northwest quadrant.
The Wometco Home Theater (WHT) was an early pay television service in the New York City area that was owned by Miami-based Wometco Enterprises, which owned several major network affiliates in mid-sized media markets and its flagship WTVJ in Miami. The signals were broadcast beginning in August 1977 on WWHT-TV and later on WSNL-TV out of Smithtown, New York.
WUTB is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the digital multicast network TBD. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF, for the provision of certain services. Sinclair also operates CW affiliate WNUV under a separate local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WNUV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The stations share studios on 41st Street off the Jones Falls Expressway in the Woodberry neighborhood of north Baltimore. Through a channel sharing agreement, WUTB and WBFF transmit using the latter station's spectrum from an antenna adjacent to the studios.
Now TV is a pay-TV service provider in Hong Kong operated by PCCW Media Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW. Launched on 26 September 2003, its TV signal is transmitted with IPTV technology through HKT's fixed broadband network.
ON TV was an American subscription television (STV) service that operated in eight markets between 1977 and 1985. Originally established by National Subscription Television, a joint venture of Oak Industries and Chartwell Communications, ON TV was part of a new breed of STV operations that broadcast premium programming—including movies, sporting events, and concerts—over an encrypted signal on a UHF television station and leased decoders to subscribing customers. At its peak in 1982, ON TV boasted more than 700,000 customers—more than half of them in Los Angeles, its most successful market. However, the rapidly expanding availability of cable television, coupled with a recession, caused the business to quickly lose subscribers at the same time that Oak Industries was experiencing severe financial difficulties. Between March 1983 and June 1985, all eight operations closed.
Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. Most cable viewers in the U.S. reside in the suburbs and tend to be middle class; cable television is less common in low income, urban, and rural areas.
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commonly referred to as a satellite dish and a low-noise block downconverter.
SelecTV was an American subscription television service that was formed in 1976 and first began broadcasting in 1978; the service focused entirely on televising movies, and was shut down in 1989.
Spectrum was an American subscription television channel that was owned and operated by United Cable. Existing during the early 1980s, the service was available in the Chicago and Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan areas. It was also available in some areas of Alaska, such as Fairbanks.
Preview was an American subscription television service that launched in 1980. Like its competitors, such as ONTV and SelecTV, Preview was a scrambled UHF subscription channel requiring a special set-top box to decode the signal.
Video Entertainment Unlimited (VEU) (also referred to as VEU Subscription TV) is a defunct American subscription television service that was owned by the Golden West Subscription Television, Inc. subsidiary of Golden West Broadcasters, which operated from May 1, 1980 until September 30, 1984. VEU aired a broad mix of feature films (including mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, lesser-known mainstream films, and softcore pornography) as well as sports events and specials.
WSNS-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC outlet WMAQ-TV ; it is also sister to regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago. WSNS-TV and WMAQ-TV share studios at the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood and transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.
K26AC was a low-power television station in Bemidji, Minnesota, United States. Owned by John Boler, it was the first low-power station to locally originate programs, instead of being a translator of another station, and one of the longest-running subscription television (STV) operations in the country. K26AC later was converted to repeat KVRR of Fargo, North Dakota, and it was forced off the air by the establishment of a full-power station on the channel on June 20, 1999.
