Basic cable
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Cable television in the United States is often divided between basic and premium programming. Basic cable TV networks are generally transmitted without any scrambling or other encryption methods and thus anyone connected to the cable TV system can receive them. Basic cable networks receive at least some funding through "per-subscriber fees," fees paid by the cable TV systems for the right to include the network in its channel lineup. Most basic cable TV networks also include advertising to supplement the fees, since their programming costs typically are not covered by per-subscriber fees alone.
The first basic cable network, launched via satellite in 1976, was Ted Turner's superstation, WTBS, subsequently known as "the TBS Superstation". A cable superstation is defined as a popular broadcast station whose signal has been uplinked to satellite for redistribution by local cable systems outside the station's local and regional coverage area.
The second basic cable network was televangelist Pat Robertson's CBN Cable, a satellite service he launched as a more efficient way to distribute the programming of his Christian Broadcasting Network. For years, CBN Cable mixed religious programming with classic television reruns to fill out its 24-hour schedule. The network changed its name to The Family Channel in the 1980s, and after its sale to ABC was renamed ABC Family.
