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78-556: TLC is an American multinational cable and satellite television network owned by the Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery . First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel , it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by Discovery, Inc. earlier in the decade, the network began to pivot towards reality television programming — predominantly focusing on programming involving lifestyles and personal stories — to

156-574: A 51% interest in The Learning Channel for $ 3 million; the American Community Service Network retained a 31.5% share of the network, with the remaining 17.5% owned by network management. On February 15, 1991, The Discovery Channel, Inc.—owners of the namesake cable channel—announced it had reached an agreement to acquire The Learning Channel from ACSN and Infotech (the latter of which was in the process of

234-491: A bankruptcy-led asset liquidation to repay creditors, subsequently resulting in the sale of the Financial News Network to a joint venture of NBC and Cablevision that integrated the network with rival financial news channel CNBC ) for $ 12.75 million (equivalent to $ 28.52 million today). Under Discovery, The Learning Channel continued to focus primarily on instructional and educational programming for much of

312-405: A dedicated analog circuit-switched service. Other advantages include better voice quality and integration to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network providing cheap or unlimited nationwide and international calling. In many cases, digital cable telephone service is separate from cable modem service being offered by many cable companies and does not rely on Internet Protocol (IP) traffic or

390-436: A given location, cable distribution lines must be available on the local utility poles or underground utility lines. Coaxial cable brings the signal to the customer's building through a service drop , an overhead or underground cable. If the subscriber's building does not have a cable service drop, the cable company will install one. The standard cable used in the U.S. is RG-6 , which has a 75 ohm impedance , and connects with

468-543: A high elevation. At the outset, cable systems only served smaller communities without television stations of their own, and which could not easily receive signals from stations in cities because of distance or hilly terrain. In Canada, however, communities with their own signals were fertile cable markets, as viewers wanted to receive American signals. Rarely, as in the college town of Alfred, New York , U.S. cable systems retransmitted Canadian channels. Although early ( VHF ) television receivers could receive 12 channels (2–13),

546-466: A higher rate. At the local headend, the feed signals from the individual television channels are received by dish antennas from communication satellites . Additional local channels, such as local broadcast television stations, educational channels from local colleges, and community access channels devoted to local governments ( PEG channels) are usually included on the cable service. Commercial advertisements for local business are also inserted in

624-405: A local VHF television station broadcast. Local broadcast channels were not usable for signals deemed to be a priority, but technology allowed low-priority signals to be placed on such channels by synchronizing their blanking intervals . TVs were unable to reconcile these blanking intervals and the slight changes due to travel through a medium, causing ghosting . The bandwidth of the amplifiers also

702-463: A microwave-based system, may be used instead. Coaxial cables are capable of bi-directional carriage of signals as well as the transmission of large amounts of data . Cable television signals use only a portion of the bandwidth available over coaxial lines. This leaves plenty of space available for other digital services such as cable internet , cable telephony and wireless services, using both unlicensed and licensed spectra. Broadband internet access

780-595: A number of Hollywood musicals. He served in World War II as a Quartermaster , and after discharge, he studied fashion design in Paris and Los Angeles. He opened his own fashion design school and operated it during the 1950s. In 1956, he was elected president of the Hollywood Beauty League, an organization dedicated to promoting Los Angeles as a cultural hub. In the 1970s, Trippon began presenting

858-564: A rarity, found in an ever-dwindling number of markets. Analog television sets are accommodated, their tuners mostly obsolete and dependent entirely on the set-top box. Cable television is mostly available in North America , Europe , Australia , Asia and South America . Cable television has had little success in Africa , as it is not cost-effective to lay cables in sparsely populated areas. Multichannel multipoint distribution service ,

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936-455: A receiver box. The cable company will provide set-top boxes based on the level of service a customer purchases, from basic set-top boxes with a standard-definition picture connected through the standard coaxial connection on the TV, to high-definition wireless digital video recorder (DVR) receivers connected via HDMI or component . Older analog television sets are cable ready and can receive

1014-422: A revival of Trading Spaces (which accompanied the season 2 premiere of Nate & Jeremiah By Design ); the season premiere and an accompanying reunion special were seen by 2.8 million viewers, marking the network's highest-rated Saturday primetime program since 2010. In March 2018, Discovery Communications acquired Scripps Networks Interactive , and was renamed Discovery, Inc. TLC president Nancy Daniels left

1092-766: A series of signal amplifiers and line extenders. These devices carry the signal to customers via passive RF devices called taps. The very first cable networks were operated locally, notably in 1936 by Rediffusion in London in the United Kingdom and the same year in Berlin in Germany, notably for the Olympic Games , and from 1948 onwards in the United States and Switzerland. This type of local cable network

1170-417: A special telephone interface at the customer's premises that converts the analog signals from the customer's in-home wiring into a digital signal, which is then sent on the local loop (replacing the analog last mile , or plain old telephone service (POTS) to the company's switching center, where it is connected to the public switched telephone network ( PSTN ). The biggest obstacle to cable telephone service

1248-413: A spin-off in 2012, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo , focusing on the family life of recurring contestant Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson. Also premiering on TLC in 2009 was Cake Boss , which focuses on the head baker at Carlo's Bakery and his staff, who mostly consist of his family. In July 2014, TLC introduced a new slogan and promotional campaign, "Everyone Needs a Little TLC", which continued to build upon

1326-471: A spin-off series, Counting On , which followed the adult lives of Duggar family members; the series was canceled in June 2021 after Josh Duggar was arrested on child pornography charges (for which he was later convicted). In 2017, home design programming began to return to the network with the premiere of Nate & Jeremiah By Design ; the series was renewed for a second season. In April 2018, TLC premiered

1404-518: A target audience in their 30s. In 2007, TLC premiered Say Yes to the Dress , a reality series following clients of Kleinfeld Bridal in Manhattan . In early March 2008, TLC launched a new imaging campaign, "Life Surprises". This new slogan came as TLC began to shift even more to personal stories, and away from the once-dominating home improvement shows. Programs focused on family life became the core of

1482-433: A time when Discovery itself was overhauling much, and in some cases competition series of its own programming, introducing shows like American Chopper (which Discovery moved to TLC for a time). Much of the older, more educationally focused programming could still be found dispersed amongst other channels owned by Discovery Communications. On March 27, 2006, the network launched a new look and promotional campaign, dropping

1560-605: A type F connector . The cable company's portion of the wiring usually ends at a distribution box on the building exterior, and built-in cable wiring in the walls usually distributes the signal to jacks in different rooms to which televisions are connected. Multiple cables to different rooms are split off the incoming cable with a small device called a splitter . There are two standards for cable television; older analog cable, and newer digital cable which can carry data signals used by digital television receivers such as high-definition television (HDTV) equipment. All cable companies in

1638-422: Is achieved over coaxial cable by using cable modems to convert the network data into a type of digital signal that can be transferred over coaxial cable. One problem with some cable systems is the older amplifiers placed along the cable routes are unidirectional thus in order to allow for uploading of data the customer would need to use an analog telephone modem to provide for the upstream connection. This limited

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1716-633: Is also available in HD. On June 3, 2014, the Swiss cable provider UPC Cablecom launched TLC in Switzerland. On November 6, 2015, TLC Turkey began broadcasting replacing CNBC-e channel. On September 1, 2010, the Asia Pacific versions of Discovery Travel & Living were relaunched as TLC , with the acronym standing for " Travel and Living Channel ". An Indian version was launched in 2006 under

1794-660: Is broadcast in Israel , by satellite provider yes . TLC's American feed is available in Canada on most cable and satellite providers, as it is authorized for carriage as a foreign cable television service by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ; save for a few differences it features the same programming schedule as that seen in the United States. The Latin American TLC HD,

1872-482: Is the need for nearly 100% reliable service for emergency calls. One of the standards available for digital cable telephony, PacketCable , seems to be the most promising and able to work with the quality of service (QOS) demands of traditional analog plain old telephone service (POTS) service. The biggest advantage to digital cable telephone service is similar to the advantage of digital cable, namely that data can be compressed, resulting in much less bandwidth used than

1950-606: Is used in the US for cable television and originally stood for community antenna television , from cable television's origins in 1948; in areas where over-the-air TV reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large community antennas were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. In 1968, 6.4% of Americans had cable television. The number increased to 7.5% in 1978. By 1988, 52.8% of all households were using cable. The number further increased to 62.4% in 1994. To receive cable television at

2028-749: The Appalachian region . ARC submitted a proposal to participate in the ESCD and use the ATS-6 communications satellite (launched into orbit in 1974) to disseminate "career education" programming to teachers at no cost; the consortium set up 15 earth station receiver sites across eight states in conjunction with local education service agencies. The ATS-6 temporarily ceased service to the Appalachian region after being re-orbited to India in September 1975; by

2106-716: The Conn-x TV IPTV and OTE TV satellite services. TLC Germany launched on April 10, 2014, on cable, IPTV and satellite services in both HD and SD. The Channel's Hungarian version was launched on April 30, 2012, as TLC Hungary, replacing the European version of Discovery Travel & Living in on Central Europe's best country (The SD version available in Sat TV, Cable and IPTV, and almost HD version available in Hungarian BIX (IPTV) services). A Norwegian version of

2184-492: The DVB-C , DVB-C2 stream to IP for distribution of TV over IP network in the home. Many cable companies offer internet access through DOCSIS . In the most common system, multiple television channels (as many as 500, although this varies depending on the provider's available channel capacity) are distributed to subscriber residences through a coaxial cable , which comes from a trunkline supported on utility poles originating at

2262-616: The high band 7–13 of North American television frequencies . Some operators as in Cornwall, Ontario , used a dual distribution network with Channels 2–13 on each of the two cables. During the 1980s, United States regulations not unlike public, educational, and government access (PEG) created the beginning of cable-originated live television programming. As cable penetration increased, numerous cable-only TV stations were launched, many with their own news bureaus that could provide more immediate and more localized content than that provided by

2340-450: The "Life Unscripted" tag and introducing a new theme, "Live and Learn", trying to turn around the network's reliance on decorating shows and reality programming. As part of the new campaign, the channel's original name, "The Learning Channel", returned to occasional usage in promotions. The new theme also played on "life lessons", which featured heavily in the network's advertising and promotional clips. This campaign used humor to appeal to

2418-459: The "Travel & Living Channel" in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. TLC Balkans' playout is from Belgrade , Serbia . On July 4, 2011, a Dutch version was launched, time sharing with Animal Planet's standard definition feed. Animal Planet remained a 24-hour service for high-definition viewers. TLC became a 24-hour channel on January 8, 2013. It

TLC (TV network) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-839: The 1972 formation of the Appalachian Educational Satellite Project ( AESP ), a distance education project formed by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in participation with the Education Satellite Communication Demonstration (ESCD), a partnership with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and NASA intended to transmit instructional, career and health programming via satellite to provide televised educational material to public schools and universities in

2574-597: The 1990s; however, in what preceded its later expansion of such content, it also began to include shows less focused on education and geared more toward attracting popular consumption and mass marketing. In 1992, the network's name was shortened to "TLC," although the full name remained in use on alternating basis. TLC continued to offer educational programs such as Paleoworld (a show about prehistoric creatures), though more and more of its programming began to be devoted to niche audiences for shows regarding subjects like home improvement ( Hometime and Home Savvy were two of

2652-677: The ACSN's internal replacement.) By 1982, ACSN claimed that it "achieved the fastest rate of growth of all basic cable programming services," with availability on around 70 cable affiliates reaching 1.5 million subscribers; by this point, 70 universities granted academic credit for telecourses carried on the network. On January 1, 1984, the network shortened its name to The Learning Channel . The channel mostly featured documentary content pertaining to nature, science, history, current events, medicine, technology, cooking, home improvement, and other information-based topics. A notable example of such programming

2730-523: The Internet. Traditional cable television providers and traditional telecommunication companies increasingly compete in providing voice, video and data services to residences. The combination of television, telephone and Internet access is commonly called triple play , regardless of whether CATV or telcos offer it. More than 400,000 television service subscribers. George W. Trippon George W. Trippon (February 26, 1916 - January 1, 2010)

2808-485: The United States have switched to or are in the course of switching to digital cable television since it was first introduced in the late 1990s. Most cable companies require a set-top box ( cable converter box ) or a slot on one's TV set for conditional access module cards to view their cable channels, even on newer televisions with digital cable QAM tuners, because most digital cable channels are now encrypted, or scrambled , to reduce cable service theft . A cable from

2886-404: The basic selection. By subscribing to additional tiers, customers could get specialty channels, movie channels, and foreign channels. Large cable companies used addressable descramblers to limit access to premium channels for customers not subscribing to higher tiers, however the above magazines often published workarounds for that technology as well. During the 1990s, the pressure to accommodate

2964-563: The cable box itself, these midband channels were used for early incarnations of pay TV , e.g. The Z Channel (Los Angeles) and HBO but transmitted in the clear i.e. not scrambled as standard TV sets of the period could not pick up the signal nor could the average consumer de-tune the normal stations to be able to receive it. Once tuners that could receive select mid-band and super-band channels began to be incorporated into standard television sets, broadcasters were forced to either install scrambling circuitry or move these signals further out of

3042-429: The cable company's local distribution facility, called the headend . Many channels can be transmitted through one coaxial cable by a technique called frequency division multiplexing . At the headend, each television channel is translated to a different frequency . By giving each channel a different frequency slot on the cable, the separate television signals do not interfere with each other. At an outdoor cable box on

3120-515: The cable to send data from the customer box to the cable headend, for advanced features such as requesting pay-per-view shows or movies, cable internet access , and cable telephone service . The downstream channels occupy a band of frequencies from approximately 50 MHz to 1 GHz, while the upstream channels occupy frequencies of 5 to 42 MHz. Subscribers pay with a monthly fee. Subscribers can choose from several levels of service, with premium packages including more channels but costing

3198-675: The case of no local CBS or ABC station being available – rebroadcast the programming from a nearby affiliate but fill in with its own news and other community programming to suit its own locale. Many live local programs with local interests were subsequently created all over the United States in most major television markets in the early 1980s. This evolved into today's many cable-only broadcasts of diverse programming, including cable-only produced television movies and miniseries . Cable specialty channels , starting with channels oriented to show movies and large sporting or performance events, diversified further, and narrowcasting became common. By

TLC (TV network) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-560: The channel was launched on March 4, 2010, as TLC Norway , replacing the European version of Discovery Travel & Living in Norway. On October 1, 2010, the Polish version of Discovery Travel & Living was relaunched as TLC Poland , replacing the European version of Discovery Travel & Living in Poland. TLC Balkans was also launched on October 1, 2010, replacing the European version of

3354-586: The channel was originally launched in 1994 across Europe and was subsequently renamed Discovery Home and Leisure and later Discovery Real Time as part of Discovery's slate of themed channels. TLC relaunched in the UK and the Republic of Ireland on April 30, 2013. TLC Romania was launched on January 20, 2011, replacing the European version of Discovery Travel & Living in this country. On August 2, 2022, it launched its local Romanian feed and audio track replacing

3432-525: The channel. Jon & Kate Plus 8 , which by 2008 was the highest-rated program on TLC, and Little People, Big World were joined by 17 Kids and Counting —a show which followed the lives of the Duggar family (and was in turn retitled 18 Kids and Counting , and then 19 Kids and Counting , as the family expanded), and Table for 12 in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The series Toddlers & Tiaras also debuted in 2008, and proved popular enough to spawn

3510-508: The chosen channel into the TV set on Channel 2, 3 or 4. Initially, UHF broadcast stations were at a disadvantage because the standard TV sets in use at the time were unable to receive their channels. With the passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1964, all new television sets were required to include a UHF tuner, nonetheless, it would still take a few years for UHF stations to become competitive. Before being added to

3588-669: The episode focusing more on the renovation process. A high definition simulcast of TLC was launched on September 1, 2007. It is currently available on many subscription-television systems in the United States and Canada. OSN —a paid platform in the Middle East and North Africa—launched TLC HD and broadcast it with the Discovery Network, using the same form as the American TLC channel and adding new exclusive Arabic-English programs from its production as "Nidaa". It

3666-415: The fact that the descrambling circuitry was for a time present in these tuners, depriving the cable operator of much of their revenue, such cable-ready tuners are rarely used now – requiring a return to the set-top boxes used from the 1970s onward. The digital television transition in the United States has put all signals, broadcast and cable, into digital form, rendering analog cable television service

3744-425: The first), arts and crafts, crime programs such as The New Detectives , medical programming (particularly reality-based shows following real patients through the process of operations), and other shows that appealed to daytime audiences, particularly housewives. This was to be indicative of a major change in programming content and target audience over the next few years. TLC began to explore new avenues starting in

3822-457: The growing array of offerings resulted in digital transmission that made more efficient use of the VHF signal capacity; fibre optics was common to carry signals into areas near the home, where coax could carry higher frequencies over the short remaining distance. Although for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, television receivers and VCRs were equipped to receive the mid-band and super-band channels. Due to

3900-450: The headend, the electrical signal is translated into an optical signal and sent through the fiber. The fiber trunkline goes to several distribution hubs , from which multiple fibers fan out to carry the signal to boxes called optical nodes in local communities. At the optical node, the optical signal is translated back into an electrical signal and carried by coaxial cable distribution lines on utility poles, from which cables branch out to

3978-540: The international feed. In early 2013 the channel launched in Bulgaria. In November 2016, TLC began to appear free, before that TLC was a payment channel in Finland. TLC's French channel launched on 26 February 2024 as a replacement for Discovery Science . In November 2011, TLC Portugal debuted on ZON TV (now NOS TV) distributor and satellite services and after on MEO TV. On October 3, 2011, TLC Greece debuted on

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4056-460: The jack in the wall is attached to the input of the box, and an output cable from the box is attached to the television, usually the RF-IN or composite input on older TVs. Since the set-top box only decodes the single channel that is being watched, each television in the house requires a separate box. Some unencrypted channels, usually traditional over-the-air broadcast networks, can be displayed without

4134-545: The jurisdiction of Discovery Channel . It was relaunched as TLC on September 1, 2010. A South Korean version was launched on December 4, 2013, under the Discovery Communications and CMB (Central Media Broadcasting Korea). The channel was replaced by EXF (Extreme Fun TV) on May 1, 2016. A New Zealand version was launched in the 2015 On Sky Television in New Zealand. The network airs throughout

4212-437: The late 1980s, cable-only signals outnumbered broadcast signals on cable systems, some of which by this time had expanded beyond 35 channels. By the mid-1980s in Canada, cable operators were allowed by the regulators to enter into distribution contracts with cable networks on their own. By the 1990s, tiers became common, with customers able to subscribe to different tiers to obtain different selections of additional channels above

4290-477: The late 1990s, deemphasizing educational material in favor of entertainment. Ready Set Learn! , the network's children's program block, was slowly reduced through the years as the network deliberately redirected viewers towards the full-day lineup of children's programming on Discovery Kids . The block was dropped completely in late 2008, and Cable in the Classroom programming, meant for recording by teachers,

4368-423: The maximum number of channels that could be broadcast in one city was 7: channels 2, 4, either 5 or 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13, as receivers at the time were unable to receive strong (local) signals on adjacent channels without distortion. (There were frequency gaps between 4 and 5, and between 6 and 7, which allowed both to be used in the same city). As equipment improved, all twelve channels could be utilized, except where

4446-451: The nearest network newscast. Such stations may use similar on-air branding as that used by the nearby broadcast network affiliate, but the fact that these stations do not broadcast over the air and are not regulated by the FCC, their call signs are meaningless. These stations evolved partially into today's over-the-air digital subchannels, where a main broadcast TV station e.g. NBC 37* would – in

4524-557: The network to become the chief brand officer of Discovery's factual networks, to replace the outgoing Rich Ross . She was replaced by Scripps Networks' chief programmer Kathleen Finch as chief brand officer of Discovery's lifestyle networks, overseeing TLC and the six networks formerly owned by SNI (such as HGTV and Food Network ), among others. In 2019, HGTV and TLC premiered a co-commissioned revival of another former TLC series, While You Were Out ; new episodes premiered on both networks simultaneously, with HGTV airing an alternate cut of

4602-475: The network's current focus on personal stories and family life. In 2014, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was canceled after it was reported that Alana's mother had been dating a registered sex offender. In 2015, 19 Kids and Counting was canceled by TLC after the Duggars' eldest son, Josh Duggar , admitted to acts of molestation he had committed against minors while he was a teenager. It was subsequently succeeded by

4680-408: The old analog cable without a set-top box. To receive digital cable channels on an analog television set, even unencrypted ones, requires a different type of box, a digital television adapter supplied by the cable company or purchased by the subscriber. Another new distribution method that takes advantage of the low cost high quality DVB distribution to residential areas, uses TV gateways to convert

4758-525: The point that the previous name with "The Learning Channel" spelled out was phased out in favor of its initialism . As of November 2023, with its programming primarily dedicated to the nine-series 90 Day Fiancé universe, comprising 31% of the shows carried by the channel, TLC is available to approximately 71,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households. TLC's history traces to

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4836-504: The programming at the headend (the individual channels, which are distributed nationally, also have their own nationally oriented commercials). Modern cable systems are large, with a single network and headend often serving an entire metropolitan area . Most systems use hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) distribution; this means the trunklines that carry the signal from the headend to local neighborhoods are optical fiber to provide greater bandwidth and also extra capacity for future expansion. At

4914-454: The programming without cost. Later, the cable operators began to carry FM radio stations, and encouraged subscribers to connect their FM stereo sets to cable. Before stereo and bilingual TV sound became common, Pay-TV channel sound was added to the FM stereo cable line-ups. About this time, operators expanded beyond the 12-channel dial to use the midband and superband VHF channels adjacent to

4992-491: The project was accepted for academic credit at 12 universities in the region. In October 1978, NASA disclosed the ATS-6 would suspend transmissions for 12 months due to transmission problems with the satellite. As a result, ARC decided to purchase transponder time on the commercial Satcom I communications satellite, in order to continue its distance education offerings. The non-profit Appalachian Community Service Network (ACSN)

5070-476: The range of reception for early cable-ready TVs and VCRs. However, once consumer sets had the ability to receive all 181 FCC allocated channels, premium broadcasters were left with no choice but to scramble. The descrambling circuitry was often published in electronics hobby magazines such as Popular Science and Popular Electronics allowing anybody with anything more than a rudimentary knowledge of broadcast electronics to be able to build their own and receive

5148-421: The region on DStv , and launched on September 1, 2011. Cable television A cable channel (sometimes known as a cable network ) is a television network available via cable television. Many of the same channels are distributed through satellite television . Alternative terms include non-broadcast channel or programming service , the latter being mainly used in legal contexts. The abbreviation CATV

5226-418: The signals are typically encrypted on modern digital cable systems, and the set-top box must be activated by an activation code sent by the cable company before it will function, which is only sent after the subscriber signs up. If the subscriber fails to pay their bill, the cable company can send a signal to deactivate the subscriber's box, preventing reception. There are also usually upstream channels on

5304-403: The subscriber's residence, the company's service drop cable is connected to cables distributing the signal to different rooms in the building. At each television, the subscriber's television or a set-top box provided by the cable company translates the desired channel back to its original frequency ( baseband ), and it is displayed onscreen. Due to widespread cable theft in earlier analog systems,

5382-474: The time the satellite reoriented to the United States the following year, the number of earth receivers used to transmit AESP content increased to 45 sites in Pennsylvania , Kentucky , Maryland , Virginia , West Virginia , Tennessee , Alabama , Georgia , North Carolina and South Carolina (some of which also acted as relays to local television stations in the region). All programming offered through

5460-532: The upstream speed to 31.2 Kbp/s and prevented the always-on convenience broadband internet typically provides. Many large cable systems have upgraded or are upgrading their equipment to allow for bi-directional signals, thus allowing for greater upload speed and always-on convenience, though these upgrades are expensive. In North America , Australia and Europe , many cable operators have already introduced cable telephone service, which operates just like existing fixed line operators. This service involves installing

5538-568: Was Captain's Log (produced and hosted by Mark Graves, also known as Captain Mark Gray), a weekly primetime boating safety series that aired from 1987 to 1990; the program often achieved between a 4.5 to 6 rating share and was the highest compensated series in the history of TLC with over 30 times the compensation of any other series on the network. In 1986, Infotech, Inc.—then-owner of the Financial News Network (FNN)—acquired

5616-419: Was Sew, What's New? , a fashion design show presented by George W. Trippon . These were more focused, more technical, and of a more academic nature than the content that was being broadcast at the time on its eventual rival, The Discovery Channel , which launched in 1985. TLC was geared toward an inquisitive and narrow audience during this time, and had modest ratings. An exception to this viewership commonality

5694-607: Was a Romanian-American teacher, fashion designer and author known for operating the Trippon Fashion Center design school in Los Angeles during the 1950s and for a long-running TV show "Sew, What's New?" on The Learning Channel during the 1980s and 1990s. Trippon was born in 1916 in Aurora, Illinois to parents George and Mary, both Romanian immigrants. At age 9, he attended dance school and later appeared in

5772-515: Was discontinued in 2014. In 1998, the channel began to distance itself from its original name "The Learning Channel", and instead began to advertise itself only as "TLC". During this period, there was a huge shift in content, with most new programming being geared towards reality-drama and interior design shows. The huge success of shows like Trading Spaces , Junkyard Wars , A Wedding Story , and A Baby Story exemplified this new shift in programming towards more mass-appeal shows. This came at

5850-631: Was incorporated in April 1980, maintaining a board of directors appointed by the Appalachian Regional Commission. The ACSN television service launched in October 1980 as ACSN – The Learning Channel ; unlike the closed-circuit AESP, the network distributed its programming available directly to cable systems for home viewing. Its programming also expanded to include "informational" content. (NASA immediately launched NASA TV as

5928-541: Was launched on December 1, 2009, exclusively in high-definition, in the same style as the American channel (most of TLC's programming is available in standard-definition on Discovery Home & Health ). On November 1, 2011, the Latin American version of Discovery Travel & Living was relaunched as TLC: Travel & Living Channel , which now also has a dedicated feed for Brazil. An English-language version of

6006-427: Was limited, meaning frequencies over 250 MHz were difficult to transmit to distant portions of the coaxial network, and UHF channels could not be used at all. To expand beyond 12 channels, non-standard midband channels had to be used, located between the FM band and Channel 7, or superband beyond Channel 13 up to about 300 MHz; these channels initially were only accessible using separate tuner boxes that sent

6084-559: Was mainly used to relay terrestrial channels in geographical areas poorly served by terrestrial television signals. Cable television began in the United States as a commercial business in 1950s. The early systems simply received weak ( broadcast ) channels, amplified them, and sent them over unshielded wires to the subscribers, limited to a community or to adjacent communities. The receiving antenna would be taller than any individual subscriber could afford, thus bringing in stronger signals; in hilly or mountainous terrain it would be placed at

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