Glossary > Cable TV

Cable TV

What is Cable TV?

Definition: Cable TV is television that is delivered to subscribers via coaxial cable or fiber optic transmission.

The term also includes systems that distribute TV signals via satellite. Cable TV systems originated in the United States in the late 1940s and became mainstream in the 1970s and 1980s. They were designed to improve the reception of network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas where broadcast tv proved difficult or cost prohibitive.