American culture

Satellite television

Satellite television, which had been used since 1962 to relay television feeds over large distances globally, began to emerge as a method of consumer television delivery around 1980.

Based around open-standard C-band TVRO equipment, the large movable "backyard" satellite dish became a fixture in the United States for more affluent television viewers who wanted an alternative to traditional cable television. By 1996, C-band delivery became largely displaced by smaller direct broadcast satellite systems.

Beginning in the 1990s, media companies became to deliver television signals by direct broadcast satellite or DBS, led by DirecTV and followed shortly thereafter by EchoStar, which operates Dish Network.

By the first decade of the 21st century, DirecTV was sold to international satellite TV provider News Corporation. There are currently about 16 million DBS subscribers in the United States.