COM 2400 Final Exam Study Guide
Know who started CATV and where and why
John and Margaret Walson in 1948 in Mahoney City in the mountains of Pennsylvania
because the nearby residents had problems receiving the three nearby Philadelphia
network stations because of the mountains.
What does CATV stand for
Community Antenna Television
Know the name of the company that started CATV and what this company did
Know who was the first to distribute Pay TV programming HBO
The Walson’s
What did cable operators find out that CATV did that local broadcaster couldn’t
Cable operators could carry and send out more channels
In 1972, what did the FCC allow CATV to do
Cable could expand into the top 100 market and allowed public access channels
What did the FCC tell CATV operators they need to do
They needed to provide at least ONE public, educational, and government channel
Know what the must carry rules are
Mandated that cable companies carry various local and public television stations within a
cable providers service area
Know what the Communications Act of 1992 did for CATV
Allowed cable systems to drop redundant carriage of signals where stations within the
service are duplicated programming
What is the only thing that the FCC regulates with CATV
Regulate the base rate
How does cable make money
Monthly subscriptions for basic service, Local ad sales, Pay-per-view programming, and
now Internet and Telephone provider.
Know when HBO started and where
Started locally in New York in 1972
When did HBO because a viable pay cable channel
In 1978
What was the first kids show on HBO
Fraggle Rock, 1983- 1987
Know when and where MTV started and their first slogan
Launched Aug. 1, 1981 in NYC. “I want my MTV” first slogan.
Know when ESPN was launched
In 1979
When did ESPN begin 24 hour programming
Sep. 1, 1980
When did ABC purchase ESPN
1948
Know who was the first sports network to hire a woman anchor
ESPN in the 1990’s
When did ESPN equal subscribers of CNN
2007 with 92.3 million subscribers
Know all aspects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
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Amended act of 1934
Signed by President Clinton
1st time the internet was included
Allowed for media cross-ownership
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FCC= “to let anyone enter any communication business”
Primary goal was the deregulation of the broadcasting and telecommunications
markets
Forced all local telephone companies to share their line with competitors at
regulated rates
Title 5 (of this act) communications Decency Act aimed to regulate Internet
indecency and obscenity
Know about Title 5 of the Telecommunication Act of 1996
Aimed to regulate Internet indecency and obscenity, but was ruled unconstitutional by the
US Supreme Court for violating the 1st amendment
When did cable move from coaxial cable to fiber optic
In 1992
What was the first cable tv show that received an Emmy Award
Mad Men
Know why Cable systems income is increasing even though TV subscribers are
going down
Because of Internet and Telephone
What is the annual number of text messages in US
2.27 Trillion
Know order of the list of the largest TV subscribers
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Comcast: 23 million
Direct TV: 19 Million
Dish Network: 14. 2 Million
Time Warner: 13.5 million (owns HBO and Cinemax)
Cox Communications: 4.9 Million
Netflix: 20 Million
Know what Arthur C. Clark did
Wrote an article about by placing 3 space platforms into special orbits 22, 300 miles
above the equator, worldwide communication could be received
Which country was the first to explore the theory of DBS
Russia
What was the worlds first satellite and when was it launched
Sputnik launched on Oct. 4, 1957
What was the name of the first communications satellite and who developed it
Syncom II which was developed by a group of business and government agencies for the
direct purpose of communications for the military
Know when the first satellite communications was and who it was between
July 26, 1963 between a US Navy Ship in Nigeria and a US Army naval station in New
Jersey
What decade did the TV industry begin using satellite on a regular basis
Mid 70’s
Know what Geosynchronous orbit is
To hover over one spot on the equator
What did HBO do in 1975
Initiated satellite delivery of programming to cable with the heavyweight boxing match
known as “The Thriller of Manila” between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali
Know who Taylor Howard is and what he did and why 1976 is important
Standford University Professor and former NASA Scientist created the first consumer
Direct to Home satellite system in his garage
Know when Pat Robertson launched the first satellite delivered Christian Broadcast
channel
1977
When did PBS begin using satellites
1978
Know the sates when the “Big Dish” sales soared
From 1981-1985
How much were these big dish systems
The average cost was around $10,000
What was the big draw to the big dish systems
Programming was free
What did the Cable Act of 1948 do
Allowed cable systems to encrypt their satellite feeds… scrambling became the way to
deliver TV programs
Know when Primestar started and who they brought
In the early 1990’s and four large cable companies
Know when Direct TV started and who they bought
Started in 1994 and they later purchased Primestar
What advantage did the smaller dishes have over the larger ones
Delivered greater quality sound and picture
What did Direct TV pioneer
The development of the 18” dish
When was Dish Network formed
1996
Know what SHVIA is and when it started
Nov. 1999, Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act, permits satellite TV companies to
provide local TV stations signals to their subscribers in that stations market on DMA
What are the future plans for DBS
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More music video stations
More Internet and possible phone service
Satellite signal to car and GPS
Satellite signal to smartphones
When was the Internet built and for who
1960, to be a military communication network
Know what the Arpanet is and why it was built
Advanced Research Project Agency, they were afraid that we could lose vital information
attached
When was email invented and by who
1971 by Ray Tomlinson
Who picked the @ symbol to be used in emails
Ray Tomlinson
When did IBM bring their PC to market
1981
What did TIME magazine do in 1982
Names the computer the man of the year
What happened in 1987 concerning email
Email link established between Germany and China
What is Gopher
First search engine
When was “Surfing the net” coined
1992
When did the White House start public email
1992
What did Pizza Hut do in 1994
Online ordering
What is Mosaic
First graphic based web browser
Know when Netscape began and what their credited for
1994, credited for developing secure sockets layer protocol (SSL) for securing online
communications
When did Internet Explorer begin
1995
How do search engines work
Directories that rely on people to review and catalogue websites, creating categories with
hierarchical topic structures.
When did Google start
1998
How do search engines make money
“sponsored links” click
Know the myths about search engines
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Impartial information tool
Search the entire web, pick most relevant results
Vary greatly, offer choice and competition
Know what Net Neutrality is
Every website regardless of who owns it is entitled to the same Internet network speed
and access