Since its introduction in black and white several decades ago the TV and the TV broadcasting industry have undergone several technological advancements. The first big technological advancement that was made was the switch from black and white to color. People really didn't mind watching TV in black and white back then because the programming was so good. It was all live and it was performed by great actors who had received their training in vaudeville.



The public was glad to get their programming in color though even if it did mean that they had to get a new TV set to watch it. A TV set back then cost a months wages for the average worker in the U.S. and that was for a small one that had a screen on it that was maybe eighteen to twenty-four inches. Over the years the great TV actors and programming directors grew old and retired and were replaced by a newer generation and the result was that the programming just got worse and TV commercials began to come in rapid fire succession.

It got so bad that it created a market niche for cable TV programming, where people would pay to get away from the TV commercials and the low quality level of programming. Cable TV programming never really was great like early TV was, but it was better than standard TV and they had the market cornered because satellite TV programming was still a couple of decades away.

Cable had more channels and went on for twenty-four hours a day, but it was repetitive and somewhat costly when what you received for your money was taken into consideration. There was all day news and that was a new thing that had been needed for a long time.

DirecTV and Dish Network launched their first satellites into orbit during the cold war era, so there was some level of secrecy with regards to what was being shot into space and the public wasn't informed that a new era in TV viewing had just opened up and it was too bad, because it was real cause for celebration. The extremely higher level of TV technology that satellite TV service is has allowed for lower costs for so much more programming of a higher quality.

Without satellite TV programmers such as DirecTV and Dish network there would be no high definition programming available today, because cable service provider lack the technology to provide it in enough channels to warrant the purchase of a high definition TV set.

The competition in the TV programming industry that DirecTV and Dish Network brought with them has resulted in a general improvement in the service in the entire industry. DirecTV is the all time leader in sports programming and Dish Network dominates in movie programming with more movie channels then any other programming service provider has carried in the history of TV programming. One can only imagine what these two giants of the TV programming industry have in store for the viewing public as the future unfolds.