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My dad told me that when cable TV first came out, one of the big selling points was that, since you pay for the subscription, there will be no ads, unlike broad

• kmbfjr 3y ago
  For some of the channels, yes. Not all though. Ask your dad if he remembers the in-band signals on ESPN and CNN. Those tones were to trip automation for commercials.
• Mountain_Skies 3y ago
  My understanding is that cable tv early on was called CATV (Community Antenna Television) and was used in places where the local topography made television reception difficult so the community came together to have one high quality antenna in a good location for reception and then distributed that signal to members of the community who helped cover the costs. In that case, advertising would have been whatever already was being broadcast to the antenna.