Cable Television and the Future of Broadcasting

Introduction

Ralph Negrine

This book is intended to fulfil two main functions. Firstly, to provide a general survey of developments in specific countries and, secondly, to give the reader the opportunity to assess the promise of cable television, to gauge its rate of development and to measure its likely impact on existing broadcasting services. In a rapidly changing environment, such aims may appear over-ambitious but there is sufficient common ground between nations to make some important comparisons possible and worthwile. Some of these comparisons, and indeed the similarities, will be considered here.

Cable television remains, after more than 30 years of development a distribution system. But the nature of that distribution system has changed ...