The history of satellite television is a very interesting one. As we know, satellite television programming is delivered using an outdoor antenna or dish that is connected to a receiver within the home. The signal is received from satellites that are orbiting the earth that transmits the broadcast signals.
In 1962, the first television signal went from Europe to the Telstar satellite located in geosynchronous orbit over North America. In 1965, Intelsat 1, the first commercial communication satellite was launched into synchronous orbit. While Intelsat was the first communication satellite, the first satellite television satellite Anik 1 was launched by Canada in 1972. During this period, other satellites were launched by the Soviet Union including Molniya and Ekran.
Home Box Office (HBO) made history in 1972 by broadcasting via satellite the famous “Thriller From Manila” boxing match. During the period between 1981 and 1985, consumers were introduced to the large C-band satellite dishes. This advancement also proved to be cheaper than cable television, so many people purchased this type of television programming. This was a great technological achievement, similar to today’s advancements in online college courses.
Until 1984 these satellite transmissions were generally unencrypted and people could receive virtually all transmitted channels for free.
The early 90s saw four companies launch an independent satellite — Primestar; followed by the Hughes DIRECTV satellite in 1994. This was basically the advent of paid satellite television.
Since 1994, the satellite television industry has grown to approximately 18 million subscribers. This makes it one of the fastest growing electronic technologies and it is poised to continue at a large rate of growth.
