Ushering in the technological age, signals delivered by satellites brought a wealth of information and entertainment into the world that we know today. The birth of Satellite television can be traced back to the Space Race between Russia and the United States back to 1957, when Sputnik was launched into orbit. The next year, Nasa launched Explorer I and began using it to find different uses for satellites. With both the United States and Soviet Union heavily competitive in the midst of the Cold War, a series of communication satellites were launched in both North America and the Soviet Union. These satellites established geosynchronous communication and the world’s first commercial communication. Then in 1967, the first national satellite television network, called Orbita, was created by the Soviet Union. With North America launching a satellite five years later, the birth of television through satellites had been put into place.

In the early 1970s and before, most cable companies only delivered television signals to individuals in outlying areas. Starting in the mid-1970s though, satellites took hold of the cable industry by offering exclusive channels that couldn’t be viewed otherwise, with HBO (Home Box Office) being the first one to do so. It was in 1975 that satellites were able to supply the nation with pay-TV service, as before then cable systems had to rely on microwave relay technology. Thanks to this and programming developed by Ted Turner, Cable had become a national phenomenom.

Due to cable television being more cost-effective, the popularity of satellite dishes dwindled throughout the 1980s. Over the next decade though, Direct Broadcast Satellite Systems had developed. Primestar, who is one of DBS’s first providers, offered customers affordable services with more programming options. This development has since led satellite television to its current competitive status with cable companies today.