Editing Television receive-only (section)

==History==
[[File:Back of satellite dish.jpg|thumb|The back side of a C-Band satellite dish showing the pole, mount, motor, [[counterweight]], and structure of the dish.]]
TVRO systems were originally marketed in the late 1970s. On October 18, 1979, the FCC began allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.<ref name="dms">[http://www.dmsiusa.com/glory-days.html The "Glory Days" of Satellite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303133328/http://dmsiusa.com/glory-days.html |date=March 3, 2014 }}</ref> The dishes were nearly {{convert|20|ft|m}} in diameter,<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Giarrusso|first=Michael|date=July 28, 1996|title=Tiny Satellite Dishes Sprout in Rural Areas|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-28-mn-28792-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref> were remote controlled,<ref name="denverpost">{{cite news|last=Keating|first=Stephen|year=1999|title=Stealing Free TV, Part 2|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/business/cutt1101.htm|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]] |access-date=July 3, 2014}}</ref> and could only pick up HBO signals from one of two satellites.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Originally, the dishes used for satellite TV reception were 12 to 16 feet in diameter and made of solid [[fiberglass]] with an embedded metal coating, with later models being 4 to 10 feet and made of [[wire]] [[mesh]] and solid [[steel]] or [[aluminum]].<ref name=Stecklow/> Early dishes cost more than $5,000, and sometimes as much as $10,000. The wider the dish was, the better its ability to provide adequate channel reception. Programming sent from ground stations was relayed from 18 satellites in [[geostationary orbit]] located 22,300 miles above the Earth. The dish had to be pointed directly at the satellite, with nothing blocking the signal. Weaker signals required larger dishes.<ref name=Stecklow/><ref name=Reibstein>{{cite news|title=Watching TV Via Satellite Is Their Dish|last=Reibstein|first=Larry|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=1981-09-27|page=E01}}</ref><ref name=Akron>{{cite news|title=Satellite TV Dishes Getting Good Reception|last=Dawidziak|first=Mark|work=[[Akron Beacon-Journal]]|date=1984-12-30|page=F-1}}</ref>

The dishes worked by receiving a low-power C-Band (3.7–4.2&nbsp;GHz) [[frequency modulation|frequency-modulated]] [[analog television|analog]] signal directly from the original distribution satellite – the same signal received by [[cable television headend]]s. Because analog channels took up an entire [[transponder]] on the satellite, and each satellite had a fixed number of transponders, dishes were usually equipped with a modified [[polar mount]] and [[actuator]] to sweep the dish across the horizon to receive channels from multiple satellites. Switching between horizontal and vertical polarization was accomplished by a small electric [[Servomechanism|servo]] motor that moved a probe inside the [[feedhorn]] throat at the command of the receiver (commonly called a "polarotor" setup). Higher-end receivers did this transparently, switching polarization and moving the dish automatically as the user changed channels.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

By Spring of 1984, 18 C-Band satellites were in use for United States domestic communications, owned by five different companies.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url = http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-04-09.pdf |title = Where the Birds Are |date = 1984-04-09|magazine = Broadcasting|page = 48 |access-date = 2015-06-09}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Satellite name
!Owner
!Orbital location
(degrees longitude)
|-
|Comstar 1
| rowspan="5" |Comsat/AT&T
|76
|-
|Comstar 2
|76
|-
|Comstar 3
|87
|-
|Comstar 4
|127
|-
|[[Telstar 301]]
|96
|-
|[[Galaxy 1]]
| rowspan="2" |Hughes Communications
|134
|-
|Galaxy 2
|74
|-
|[[Satcom (satellite)|Satcom]] 1
| rowspan="7" |RCA
|139
|-
|Satcom 1R
|139
|-
|Satcom 2
|131
|-
|Satcom 2R
|72
|-
|Satcom 3R
|131
|-
|Satcom 4
|84
|-
|Satcom 5
|143
|-
|[[Westar 1]]
| rowspan="4" |Western Union
|79
|-
|Westar 3
|91
|-
|Westar 4
|99
|-
|Westar 5
|123
|}

The retail price for satellite receivers soon dropped, with some dishes costing as little as $2,000 by mid-1984.<ref name="Stecklow" /> Dishes pointing to one satellite were even cheaper.<ref name="Wichita">{{cite news|title=Research Needed in Buying Dish: High Cost Is Important Consideration for Consumer|last=Stecklow|first=Steve|work=[[Wichita Eagle]]|agency=Knight-Ridder News Service|date=1984-10-25|page=6C}}</ref> Once a user paid for a dish, it was possible to receive even premium movie channels, raw feeds of news broadcasts or television stations from other areas. People in areas without local broadcast stations, and people in areas without cable television, could obtain good-quality reception with no monthly fees.<ref name="Stecklow">{{cite news|title=America's Favorite Dish|last=Stecklow|first=Steve|work=[[The Miami Herald]]|agency=[[Knight-Ridder News Service]]|date=1984-07-07|page=1C}}</ref><ref name="Akron" /> Two open questions existed about this practice: whether the [[Communications Act of 1934]] applied as a case of "unauthorized reception" by TVRO consumers; and to what extent it was legal for a service provider to encrypt their signals in an effort to prevent its reception.

The [[Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984]] clarified all of these matters, making the following legal:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goldwater|first=Barry|date=1984-10-30|title=S.66 - 98th Congress (1983-1984): Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/senate-bill/66|access-date=2020-09-22|website=www.congress.gov}}</ref><ref name=Akron/><ref name="Chicago">{{cite news|last=Takiff|first=Jonathan|date=1987-05-22|title=Satellite Tv Skies Brighten As War With Programmers Ends|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|agency=[[Knight-Ridder Newspapers]]|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/05/22/satellite-tv-skies-brighten-as-war-with-programmers-ends/|access-date=2014-04-10}}</ref>

* Reception of unencrypted satellite signals by a consumer
* Reception of encrypted satellite signals by a consumer, when they have received authorization to legally decrypt it

This created a framework for the wide deployment of encryption on analog satellite signals. It further created a framework (and implicit mandate to provide) subscription services to TVRO consumers to allow legal decryption of those signals. HBO and Cinemax became the first two services to announce intent to encrypt their satellite feeds late in 1984. Others were strongly considering doing so as well.<ref name="Akron" /> Where cable providers could compete with TVRO subscription options, it was thought this would provide sufficient incentive for competition.<ref name="Turned">{{cite news|title=Direct-Broadcast TV Is Still Not Turned On|last=Wolf|first=Ron|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=1985-01-20|page=C01}}</ref>

HBO and Cinemax began encrypting their west coast feeds services with [[VideoCipher|VideoCipher II]] 12 hours a day early in 1985, then did the same with their east coast feeds by August. The two networks began scrambling full time on January 15, 1986, which in many contemporary news reports was called "S-Day". This met with much protest from owners of big-dish systems, most of which had no other option at the time for receiving such channels. As required by the Cable Communications Policy act of 1984, HBO allowed dish owners to subscribe directly to their service, although at a price ($12.95 per month) higher than what cable subscribers were paying. This sentiment, and a collapse in the sales of TVRO equipment in early 1986, led to the [[Attack of Captain Midnight|April 1986 attack on HBO's transponder]] on [[Galaxy 1]]. Dish sales went down from 600,000 in 1985 to 350,000 in 1986, but pay television services were seeing dishes as something positive since some people would never have cable service, and the industry was starting to recover as a result. Through 1986, other channels that began full time encryption included [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] and [[The Movie Channel]] on May 27, and [[CNN]] and [[HLN (TV network)|CNN Headline News]] on July 1.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1986-07-01|title=CNN shuts out dish owners|pages=10|work=The Dispatch|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59756349/cnn-shuts-out-dish-owners/|access-date=2020-09-22}}</ref> Scrambling would also lead to the development of [[pay-per-view]],<ref name="Chicago" /> as demonstrated by the early adoption of encryption by [[Request television|Request Television]], and [[In Demand|Viewer's Choice]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Scrambling Information: 1988|url=http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=419306|publisher=National Cable Television Association|date=1988-02-05}}</ref> Channels scrambled (encrypted) with VideoCipher and VideoCipher II could be defeated, and there was a [[black market]] for illegal descramblers.

By the end of 1987, 16 channels had employed encryption with another 7 planned in the first half of 1988. Packages that offered reduced rates for channels in bulk had begun to appear. At this time, the vast majority of analog satellite TV transponders still were not encrypted.<ref name=":0" /> On November 1, 1988, [[NBC]] began scrambling its C-band signal but left its [[Ku band|K<sub>u</sub> band]] signal unencrypted in order for affiliates to not lose viewers who could not see their advertising. Most of the two million satellite dish users in the United States still used C-band. [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[CBS]] were considering scrambling, though CBS was reluctant due to the number of people unable to receive local [[network affiliate]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Scrambled NBC Bad News for Satellite Pirates|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|agency=United Press International|date=1988-11-03|page=E3}}</ref>

The growth of dishes receiving K<sub>u</sub> band signals in North America was limited by the [[Challenger disaster]], since 75 satellites were to be launched prior to the suspension of the [[Space Shuttle]] program. Only seven K<sub>u</sub> band satellites were in use.<ref>{{cite news|title=Newest Technology Could Become a Major Threat to Local Cable Firms|last=Nye|first=Doug|work=[[The State (newspaper)|The State]]|location=Columbia, South Carolina |date=1988-02-04}}</ref>

In addition to encryption, [[Direct broadcast satellite|DBS]] services such as [[PrimeStar]] had been reducing the popularity for TVRO systems since the early 1990s. Signals from DBS satellites (operating in the more recent K<sub>u</sub> band) are higher in both frequency and power (due to improvements in the [[solar panel]]s and [[energy conversion efficiency|energy efficiency]] of modern satellites) and therefore require much smaller dishes than C-band, and the [[Digital data|digital]] signals now used require far less [[signal strength]] at the receiver, resulting in a lower [[cost of entry]]. Each satellite also can carry up to 32 transponders in the K<sub>u</sub> band, but only 24 in the C band, and several [[digital subchannel]]s can be [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplex]]ed (MCPC) or carried separately ([[SCPC]]) on a single transponder. General advances, such as [[HEMT]], in [[noise reduction]] at microwave frequencies have also had an effect. However, a consequence of the higher frequency used for DBS services is [[rain fade]] where viewers lose signal during a heavy downpour. C-band's immunity to rain fade is one of the major reasons the system is still used as the preferred method for television broadcasters to distribute their signal.

===Popularity===
TVRO systems were most popular in [[rural]] areas, beyond the [[broadcast range]] of most local [[television station]]s. The [[mountain]]ous [[terrain]] of [[West Virginia]], for example, makes reception of [[terrestrial television|over-the-air]] television [[broadcast]]s (especially in the higher [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] frequencies) very difficult. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s DBS systems were not available, and cable television systems of the time only carried a few channels, resulting in a boom in sales of systems in the area, which led to the systems being termed the "West Virginia state flower". The term was regional, known mostly to those living in West Virginia and surrounding areas. Another reason was the large sizes of the dishes. The first satellite systems consisted of "BUDs" twelve to sixteen feet in diameter. They became much more popular in the mid-1980s when dish sizes decreased to about six to ten feet, but have always been a source of much consternation (even local [[zoning]] disputes) due to their perception as an [[eyesore]]. [[Neighborhood]]s with [[restrictive covenant]]s usually still prohibit this size of dish, except where such restrictions are illegal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Installing Consumer-Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes|url=http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/consumerdish.html|publisher=FCC|access-date=2008-11-21}}</ref> Support for systems dried up when strong [[encryption]] was introduced around 1994. Many long-disconnected dishes still occupy their original spots.