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Redirected from: community antenna TV

Definition: CATV


(Community Antenna TV) The original name for cable TV. Dating back to the late 1940s, a cable company would place an antenna at the highest location in the community and string cables to homes in neighborhoods with hilly terrain or other interference. The term is still sometimes used for cable TV; however, cable operators today deliver far more than over-the-air TV, including premium channels as well as Internet access and Internet telephony (see VoIP). See cable TV and triple play.