I will be discussing the history and use of the Television Receive Only satellite dish. I will also be talking about my own personal experience with this individual piece of technology as well.
As discussed in class lecture, in 1975 a Stanford professor by the name of Taylor Howard,
figured out how to catch HBO’s signal at home. He converted an old military surplus radar dish into a
Television Receive Only (TVRO) satellite dish. The TVRO technology used 6 to 12 foot home satellite dishes. The TVRO also used low-power microwave C-band. This particular satellite was one of the first to be used in household consumption. It was very large and quite expensive to own during that time.
According to the academic journal that I researched, it states that our world is facing international marketers and their advertising agencies are undergoing a revolution. The advertising agencies are also being challenged by a world increasingly linked together by satellite television. The article I read continues to argue that agency and client advertising executives disagree strongly over whether or not satellite television would make television the leading advertising medium and how it affects the consumers.
I actually have personal experiences with TVRO. I grew up watching TV with TVRO technology. We live in the country and back when I was younger a satellite connection was the most efficient way to watch TV where we lived. Back in the 80’s, my dad bought the Diamond X-Caliber fiber glass dish. It’s about 11 feet tall and 11 feet wide. That type of technology was ideal for people to have living in rural areas. There were benefits of watching television this way. We had a lot of movie and mainstream channels. The downfalls were we didn’t receive any local channels like ABC, PBS, KLRN, KSAT 12, etc. Also if you wanted to switch channels you had to wait a few moments for it to change over to a new satellite. That was a little annoying but I was use to it.
Although satellite offered benefits for us, within the past few years my dad has decided to switch over to Direct TV. I prefer this better because we now have movie channels, local channels, and we don’t have to sit and wait 30 seconds for the channel to change. The funny thing is we still have the 11 foot satellite dish in our backyard even though it’s no longer in use. I asked my dad why he won’t get rid of it and he said he paid too much for it back in the day and he likes to keep it as a reminder and decoration in our backyard. lol
Howard, D. C., & Ryans Jr., J. K. (1988). THE PROBABLE EFFECT OF SATELLITE TV ON AGENCY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS. Journal Of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 28(6), 41
