The new television: Looking behind the tube: In this second part of a two-part series, the outlook for emerging direct-broadcast satellite technology and entrenched cable television is examined

Two of the most dynamic television technologies are cable television and direct-broadcast satellites. Both are being actively pursued in both the United States and abroad. Cable television is the older of the two technologies and is well established in the United States; one of its most active promises is its capability of carrying not only television images but also data and voice communications. Broadcasting television programming to individual homes directly from a satellite in orbit around the earth is perhaps the most ambitious of all the technologies, with its promise of bringing television programming to many viewers who now receive fewer than two or three channels (or perhaps even no television at all). However, the technology is still sufficiently new that there are many unanswered questions about its technical and economic feasibility over the next few years.