If that occurs, digital cable could migrate from the box above the TV set to the inside, just as analog cable did.
But without a digital TV tuner, or a cable or satellite set-top box that can convert a digital signal, consumers won't get any TV at all by 2009.
In broadband, demands on tuners are increasing as cable TV operators expand their services and as set-top boxes add more complex features.
Set-top boxes allow cable-TV subscribers to surf the Internet from their sofas.
Bill Gates has a long history of making investments in cable companies with the hopes that it will secure Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people) software a significant role in the technology used for high-speed Internet access and for cable set-top boxes that deliver interactive TV.
The typical American couch spud already has a number of "boxes" attached to his television set: A VCR, a cable-TV decoder box and perhaps a videogame console like a Sony PlayStation.
And about 40% more will be able to view the digital signal through a digital cable or satellite set-top box on an analog TV they already own.
Here's the scoop: CableCard is literally a card that you pop into the back of your TV set so that you can get rid of your digital cable box and plug that coax directly into your digital TV (it's sort of like how you can use analog cable on a cable-ready analog TV without a cable box).
The iPad and iPhone are just too convenient and cable TV too idiotic and expensive for the love affair with my TV set to continue.
Going beyond the core set of TV services, the company may then look at providing other cable station in a live form.
Apple is in talks with some of the largest U.S. cable operators about letting consumers use an Apple device as a set-top box for live TV.
His latest TV drama, "The Newsroom, " premiering Sunday on HBO, is set in a fictional cable-news hub where journalists cover real-life stories such as the rise of the tea party and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The majority held that by providing individual streams to consumers according to their specific commands, Aereo was less like a cable-TV system than a consumer streaming a TV show from a Slingbox in one room to a TV set in another.
FORBES: Barry Diller's Aereo Streaming-TV Service Wins Big Ruling Against Broadcasters
Comedy Central took on the science fiction sitcom - which is set on a spaceship in the 31st century - in 2007, after its repeats on American cable TV network Adult Swim found a large cult following.
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