By Robert V. C. Dickinson, Sterling Manhattan Cable Television
Sterling Manhattan Cable Television is franchised to operate in New York City south of 79th Street on the West side and 86th Street on the East side. This area includes some 350,000 dwelling units and encompasses the entire midtown Manhattan business district and the concentrated Wall Street financial community. This represents one of the world's highest concentrations of business and financial offices. In seeking sources of revenue outside of domestic television service, carriage of commercial data became a prime candidate. A good deal of effort has been expended by Sterling Manhattan and other interested parties in surveying this market potential. The conclusions have been very encouraging to the point of initiating technical studies, tests, system design and equipment development. An overview of this data system with emphasis on the technical aspects and the particular concerns of the cable operator will be presented.