That wasn't always a problem in America because we didn't always have 200 channels.

Everything changed.

When cable was born back in the 19 forties, broadcast television was transforming the country TV signal was transmitted from local towers to rapid ear antenna.

But reception was a hit or miss, not everyone could get a signal.

So a few enterprising Americans found a workaround.

One of them being John Wilson, a TV salesman in rural Pennsylvania Wilson put an antenna on a hilltop and ran a wire down to his TV store.

The idea of cable was born by 1952.

These community antennas serviced 14,000 cable subscribers in 70 different places nationwide.

And unlike local broadcasters, antenna operators could pick up signals from far away, allowing cable customers to access new content.

In 1972 Charles Dolan launched home box office or HBO.

Four years later in 1976 Ted Turner founded what would become T BS and later created CNN.

The cable industry gave rise to new titans who took advantage of satellite technology to reach larger audiences.

By the 19 nineties, cable took off and there were millions of subscribers to dozens of cable companies across the country.

Cable reached millions of American households for decades and then the internet arrived first.

It was just dial up.

Like your old AOL free trial C DS.

You remember those service traveled over old copper phone lines owned by phone companies.

Cable providers quickly realized that the fat wires they had built to transmit hundreds of TV channels could also be used to provide internet service.

So they started selling high speed internet with their cable bundles suddenly illegally downloading that red hot chili peppers album on Napster got a whole lot faster but stringing every household in America with cable wire is expensive.

Cable companies effectively divided up the country rather than compete directly against each other content providers then created more and more channels.

Cable operators paid to carry them and passed on fees to consumers.

This left Americans with high bills and confusing bundle options.

Today, millennials especially have cut their cable subscriptions and flocked to streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, which are more affordable and you know, supply endless content to meet the binge watching demand.

The shift has had profound effects.

Media companies like Disney and Viacom relied on money from cable bundles for decades.

Now they're struggling to transform in the new world for Disney.

That means buying a huge chunk of 21st century Fox.

A deal that will increase its suite of TV shows and movies.

Meanwhile, cable companies are relying on selling internet service and looking to also expand into the cell phone industry.

She's got no wi fi.

So how these companies regulators and consumers navigate this new world of options will determine the future of cable stay tuned.