The creation and rapid development of television led to astonishing changes and reorganization of modern society.  Over the past thirty years television became one of the most important and inevitable parts of people's social agenda.  The public became dependant on television for its leisure and information source.   Its tremendous growth and profound impact on all possible aspects of modern life appear to be even more striking, considering its brief history.
 

            Cable television was developed back in 1948 with the purpose of improving broadcasting quality in rural areas.   In early  1950's Federal government made it possible for each American family to have a limited choice of home entertainment on TV.  There were only three options available at the time: CBS, ABC, and NBC networks.  The spreading of cable TV into the urban areas  started in late 1970's.  Today an average American household has access to some 12 over-the-air local TV broadcasts, about 52 channels are available through a local cable provider and several competing satellite companies offer some 200 programs, and this does not even include the option of video rentals or the Internet.  About 90% of Americans have access to cable TV and half of those are current subscribers.  Interestingly enough, more people have TV sets in their houses  than telephones.  An average person spends about 40% of his leisure time watching TV.
 

            One of the reasons for such fast growth of cable services is the economic aspect.  Back in 1950's FCC, a regulatory agency for the communication industry in US, did not view cable television as a potential economic or technological threat  to its client industries.  For that matter, it did not limit the number of channels available through cable, whereas conventional, over-the-air broadcasting had such a restriction.  By late 1960's  FCC claimed regulatory jurisdiction over Cable TV due to the increasing threat of cutting TV indusrty profits.
 

           The 1980's  became an era of cable and satellite television and posed a challenge to the old conventional broadcasting structures. Digital technology is the new promise of 1990's.  Its application is going to change TV further still and add a completely new dimension to it.  Because of digital compression, companies wil be able to offer a larger number of channels by using the same  spectrum while compressing more data on it than before.  The other major feature that digital television offers is a potential for high interactivity (two way communication)  which completely changes the basic concept of conventional TV.  This offers  endless possibilities of using televition for shopping, banking,  internet access.  Therefore, digital television could be one of the key parts of the new "Information Society".
 

            A complete transition from analog to digital broadcasting has already been scheduled for the year of 2006.  There is however some uncertainty in HDTV future.  This project discusses economic advantages and possible constraints connected with development of new digital services,  complexity in existing and future regulation policies and problems in industry convergence.

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