Managed Satellite Distribution (formerly Headend in the Sky/HITS) is Comcast's satellite

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measur ...

service that provides cable channels to

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

operations. At a traditional

cable television headend A cable television headend is a master facility for receiving television signals for processing and distribution over a cable television system. A headend facility may be staffed or unstaffed and is typically surrounded by some type of security ...

, multitudes of

satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radi ...

es and

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

s are used to grab the cable stations from dozens of

communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

s. In contrast, Managed Satellite Distribution combines cable stations into

signals on just a few satellites; cable television companies can then pull in hundreds of channels at the local headend with relatively little equipment; the HITS feed effectively replaces the more complex traditional headend operations. Managed Satellite Distribution was founded in 1994 and its namesake product is commonly recognized as the pioneer of

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

in the United States. Managed Satellite Distribution was launched by TCI before their later 1999 purchase by the

old AT&T AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

, then merged with the smaller

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

in 2002 as part their purchase of

AT&T Broadband AT&T Broadband was AT&T's cable operations division. It was formed in 1999 when AT&T acquired the assets of TCI and renamed it to AT&T Broadband. The next year, AT&T Broadband acquired MediaOne as well and became the largest cable operations com ...

(formerly TCI). The Managed Satellite Distribution headquarters in

Centennial, Colorado Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a par ...

, formerly known as the National Digital Television Center, is now called the Comcast Media Center. As of 2010, Managed Satellite Distribution offers 6 standard-definition

multiplexes In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...

on SES Americom's SES-1, 12 standard-definition multiplexes and 8 HD multiplexes on

AMC-18 AMC-18 is a geostationary Lockheed Martin A2100A communications satellite owned by SES Americom. It was launched on 8 December 2006 from Centre Spatial Guyanais aboard an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle and is situated at 83° West longitude, pro ...

, 1 standard-definition multiplex on AMC-10, and 1 standard definition multiplex on

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

's Galaxy 17. As of 2010, HITS delivers more than 280 digitally compressed video and audio television programming signals to more than 2000 cable operation sites across the US.

References

External links

Comcast Technology Solutions
— official website {{CATV USA Comcast subsidiaries Littleton, Colorado Satellite television Cable television in the United States Mass media companies established in 1994 1999 mergers and acquisitions 2002 mergers and acquisitions

See also

References

External links