Satellite TV has added a new dimension to the concept of television entertainment. The origin of dish TV can be traced back to October 4, 1957 when the satellite Sputnik got launched. World communication concept started getting into shape with the launch of the satellite. An entire system of geosynchronous satellites was set up in the elliptical orbit by an association of private companies. This enabled broadcast communication on a large scale. In 1976, satellite programming started getting delivered to the cable.

Experiment for creating "direct to home" system was also conducted in that year. The CBS system i.e. delivery of cable service through satellite, was introduced the following year. The era of satellite TV started with the creation of Direct Broadcast Satellite or DBS.

Do any of you remember of the dish antennas with a huge diameter? Those could only be installed in the terrace because of their ultra-big size. These dish antennas have reigned for more than a decade. In those days, only the C-band satellite was available in the market and that too, very costly. I still remember that my mom and grand mom would point to the terraces sporting huge dish antennas and comment on their financial status. Even we did not have one at that point of time, and so it used to be a fantasy for me. But now I feel how foolish I had been in a childhood. The new satellite TV is so cheap that it is visible on the roof top or verandah of any middle class family.

But at that time, consumers were only required to pay for their dish receiver. That was the only cost involved in the entire service that they would receive. They were not required to pay for the cable TV and satellite TV channels. All of these were free of cost. But as we all know, good things do not last long. The same also happened in the case of entertainment. The cable TV Act of 1984 brought an end to the free viewing of dish TV channels. This caused the cable TV owners to take hold of the satellite feeds and watching of satellite TV no longer remained a cost free affair.

As the popularity of dish network increased, the concept of dish TV went through a total transition. The small dish receivers that we get to see nowadays are namely the Ku-band satellite TV. The dish network deals provide the customers with small sized dish antennas which receive signals for delivering them on the screen of your television set.

The kind of entertainment that is being offered today is certainly better than that of the past. Several exciting entertainment packages are now available for the subscribers. Thus, not only the technical side but also the quality of entertainment has improved over the years.

Be it the number of channels, programming packages, and audio–visual clarity; in every aspect the dish TV has changed for the better. The price is also quite reasonable for the masses to get access to it. Besides, it has build up a wide range of coverage and serves even the remotest places of the world.