The first satellite TV system came into the market about 18 years ago, and a home dish was an expensive unit which was very space-consuming.  Today, very few people have their own dish, because there is a lot of hassle and expense involved in it.  Broadcast and cable TV was much easier to get earlier than the satellite TV system. 

Today the satellite TV system is available everywhere and the compact satellite dishes can be seen on rooftops.  In a rural area, where no cable companies have reached, the satellite TV system with its dishes is found in every house.  The big companies who market the satellite TV system have plenty of attractive offers which include movies, sports and news events from all over the world.  Besides, the picture and sound that is offered is movie-quality.

How It Works

Let us see how the satellite TV system works.  Today, anyone who wants to have a satellite TV system receives their programming from a direct broadcast satellite provider, known as DBS.  Such providers are either Direc TV or DISH Network. The choice of programs is done by the provider and he broadcasts them to his subscribers for a set package.  Basically the provider aims at bringing as many channels as possible to your TV, because he is in competition with cable TV.

Today all broadcast through any dish satellite TV system is totally digital, which means a remarkable picture and sound quality.  In a satellite TV system, when there is a DBS system or a direct to home (DTH) satellite system, there are five components which are involved.  They are the programming source, the broadcast center, the satellite, the satellite dish and the receiver.

The programming sources are simply channels which provide the programming to be broadcast.  The provider pays companies like HBO or ESPN and broadcasts their content through satellite.  The central hub of the system is the broadcast center, where the provider receives the signals from various programming sources and then beams a broadcast signal to satellites.

When the satellites receive the signals from the broadcast station, they broadcast them back to earth.  This broadcast is picked up by the viewer’s dish through a signal and it is passed on to a standard TV. 

Satellite Dishes

Through the satellite TV system the problems of range and distortion of transmitting broadcast signals is solved.  As the satellites are moving high up in the sky, there is a huge spectrum of customers that it can attract.  The satellite TV system uses satellite dishes to transmit and receive radio signals through special antennas.

TV Programming

The programming for the satellite TV system is sent to the providers from two major sources: the national turnaround channels like CNN, HBO and ESPN and several local channels, which belong to a particular area.  The broadcast center compresses the programming and resends it to the satellite, from where the provider receives it in order to send it to your TV set.