In this section you will find out about how older TV's received programmes and how these programmes were broadcast to the audiences.
Terrestrial broadcasting
Terrestrial was the first instance of broadcasting shows to people via their TV sets. It came about in the 1920s and as i said before was the first instance of broadcasting TV Programmes to people.
This was more commonly known as Terrestrial Broadcasting in Europe as the US liked to refer to it as Broadcast Television or Over-The-Air (OTA). The first use of Terrestrial Broadcasting came about in 1927. This was the broadcast from Washington D.C. Two years following this event, The BBC (British Broadcasting corporation) started broadcasting, which by 1930 had a systematical list of television programmes.
Here on the left you can see a television mast, you will notice that it has dishes on the side and stands tall in the air. The reason for this is so that the masts can distribute the TV signals to smaller receiver masts in towns and cities.
This was the main method of broadcasting from 1927 up until the 1940s when Cable TV came about.
Cable TV
Cable TV followed Terrestrial broadcasting, and hence the name, utilised cables in order to display shows onto home TVs sets. This did however start as a master antenna TV where a tower with a single antenna served the community with signals they would not usually be able to receive with an ordinary antenna .
You will find that Virgin currently still use the Cable method for their TiVo service.