Service Electric is a group of affiliated

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 bro ...

companies serving eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and western

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States. The company is headquartered in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

. Service Electric also offers broadband Internet and telephone services through PenTeleData and Alianza, both of which are partner companies.

Current affiliate systems

Service Electric Cable TV and Communications

, Pennsylvania and Hunterdon and Warren counties in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

and surrounding communities in

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

Service Electric Cablevision

Birdsboro, Pennsylvania Birdsboro is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Schuylkill River southeast of Reading. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,106. Birdsboro's economy had historically been rooted in large ...

and surrounding communities in Berks,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, and Lancaster counties *

Sunbury, Pennsylvania Sunbury ( ) is a city and the county seat of Northumberland County in Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Susquehanna Valley, Sunbury is positioned on the east bank of the Susquehanna River. Sunbury's roots stretch back to the early ...

and surrounding communities in Columbia, Montour,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, Snyder, and Union counties * Hazleton, Pennsylvania and surrounding communities in

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

, Columbia, Luzerne,

, and Schuylkill counties

Former affiliate systems

Service Electric Broadband Cable

Sussex County, New Jersey Sussex County () is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton.Altice USA Altice USA, Inc., commonly known as Altice, is an American telecommunications provider with headquarters in New York City, owned by the Franco-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi. The company delivers pay television, Internet access, telephone se ...

in 2020)

History

The company was started in 1948 in

Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania Mahanoy City ( ) is a borough located southwest of Wilkes-Barre and 13 miles southwest of Hazleton, in northern Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Coal Region of Pennsylvania and is surrounded by (but not part ...

John Walson John Walson, Sr. (born John Walsonavich; March 25, 1915 March 27, 1993) was an American appliance store owner. Based in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Walson worked for Pennsylvania Power & Light before starting a General Electric franchise out of ...

, who owned a

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

appliance store. At the time, the surrounding mountains in Schuylkill County made over-the-air reception from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

television stations difficult. Walson was interested in selling television sets through his store, and solved the problem by building an antenna on top of the mountain overlooking the town. He initially ran a cable to his warehouse and then to his appliance store, using boosters to enhance the signal. Along the way, he hooked up neighbors to the antenna system. Although there are others who have laid claim to the honor, Walson is often recognized for having built the first cable TV system in the United States. Until Walson's death, the company was known as Service Electric Cable TV, Inc., which was based in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. In early 2011, Service Electric commenced offloading cable systems from its Service Electric Cable Company affiliate. Service Electric Cable TV, Inc. was composed of three divisions, eventually becoming Service Electric Cable TV & Communications, Service Electric Cable TV of New Jersey, and Service Electric Cablevision. The cable system in Wilkes-Barre and vicinity moved operations to Service Electric Cable TV & Communications, which is currently based in

, and services the

and

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

regions in

, and Hunterdon and Warren counties in

. On February 18, 2011 the Service Electric Cablevision affiliate acquired CATV Service Inc., based in

Danville, Pennsylvania Danville is a borough in and the county seat of Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The population was 4,221 at the 2020 census. Danville is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolita ...

. The cable system in Mahanoy City became a sister company to Service Electric Cable TV & Communications, taking the name Service Electric Cablevision and serving Birdsboro, Hazleton, and Sunbury. John E. Walson, eldest son of John Walson, ran Service Electric Cable TV, Inc. for 38 years until his death in August 2012. John M. Walson has taken over the role of president since his father's death. On July 13, 2020,

Altice USA Altice USA, Inc., commonly known as Altice, is an American telecommunications provider with headquarters in New York City, owned by the Franco-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi. The company delivers pay television, Internet access, telephone se ...

, a cable, phone, and internet provider headquartered in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

, New York, acquired Service Electric Cable TV of New Jersey, which serviced

Sussex County, New Jersey Sussex County () is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton.Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

system operates Service Electric Network (SEN), a local origination cable

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

. Service Electric Network carries local news and sports, including coverage of East Penn Conference high school

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, boys' and girls'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and some

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

football games. In 2008, Service Electric Network began carrying home games of the

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used ...

, the AAA-level Minor League affiliate of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. The games are televised from Coca-Cola Park in

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

. Service Electric Network also carries home games of the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey Le ...

, the AHL affiliate of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

. The station has added coverage of the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word re ...

, the Philadelphia Phillies' AA-level minor league baseball affiliate,Fybush, Scott
NERW Special: Baseball on the Radio
''NorthEast Radio Watch''. Retrieved 2011-04-04. and Bethlehem Steel FC soccer games. The network rebranded as Service Electric Network from TV2 Sports in May 2020.

Market environment

In the Lehigh Valley, an overbuild environment exists in many communities in which subscribers can choose between two competing cable television providers. Service Electric and RCN offer similar but not duplicative programming packages. In Wilkes-Barre, Service Electric competes with newcomer

Loop Internet Loop Internet is a fiber-optic internet service provider based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2015 with the goal of expanding high-speed internet access throughout Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. The company provides residential a ...

, a local internet service provider specializing in

fiber-optic communication Fiber-optic communication is a form of optical communication for transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared or visible light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modul ...

including

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

and

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

. Despite not offering cable television plans, Loop competes with Service Electric by offering faster Internet plans as well as

VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

telephone services. In most other areas served by one of Service Electric's family of companies, the company is the only viable provider.

References

External links

Service Electric Cable TV & CommunicationsService Electric Cablevision
{{authority control 1948 establishments in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1948 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Cable television companies of the United States Companies based in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Mass media companies established in 1948