When cable TV was first introduced in America, one of its mainstays in its broadcasting lineup was reruns of television shows that were produced by one of the three large networks. If you were lucky, you could also catch a few old movies every now and then.
Other than that, there was not too much of a difference between it and the networks. The first big thing that changed the industry was started by an executive named Ted Turner, who began broadcasting a large amount of sports on one of his cable TV stations. Because of his foresight and intuitive, the viewership on his station skyrocketed, which allowed him to develop an entertainment empire.
The people in the television industry took notice of the success that Ted was having, and a few of them got together and started a new cable television station called ESPN. Because of it, you can now watch sports almost any time of the day or night that you wish.
Ted was not the type of person that liked to live in the past, so he came up with a new idea, which was a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week news station. Most of the powerful executives in the industry thought he was crazy at the time. The station that he started is called CNN, and it now can be seen in virtually every country in the world.
Music has always been very popular, so what better way to promote a band's new material than by producing a video showing it. The problem was, that there were not any television stations that were dedicated to broadcasting this form of entertainment. Once again, a few very smart individuals got together and started MTV. Because of it, music fans everywhere could enjoy the next big smash hits whenever they desired. More here Ghum Hai KisiKey Pyaar Meiin Written Update
The next new type of show that increased cable TV viewership was the reality series. One of the first ones that captured so much attention, was called "The Osbournes", which also happened to be shown on MTV. It featured the heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family, and quickly became a smash hit shortly after it began being televised.
Out there someplace, is a very creative person that is trying to come up with a new type of television show that will change cable TV forever. Who knows what it will be like or who the creator will be, the only thing that you can be certain of, is that someday something new will come along that will become an overnight sensation.