Cable Television

Cable television brings television channels to customers without antennas. Later versions bring more channels than analog antennas provided.

Walson owned a small company, Service Electric, located in a mountainous region in Pennsylvania. Frustrated that buyers of his televisions could not receive a signal he climbed a mountain and installed an antenna at the top. Eventually, with more antennas, cables, and amplifiers, he delivered a high-quality signal to his customers.

Walson expanded his cable system, eventually adding better equipment including microwave transmitters.

While simply trying to improve his own service, Walson created an enormous market. Miraculously, his cable service still exists in 2018. Service Electric remains a private company, run by his grandson, with estimated 2017 revenues of $51 million. In contrast, Comcast – the largest US cable TV provider – had 2017 revenues of $84.5B.