National Cable & Telecommunications Association

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The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable television industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation’s cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry. Officially founded in 1952, NCTA's primary mission is to provide its members with a strong national presence by providing a single, unified voice on issues affecting the cable and telecommunications industry.

The cable industry is the nation’s largest broadband provider of high speed Internet access after investing $100 billion over 10 years to build a two-way interactive network with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to millions of American consumers.

From its inception, NCTA has promoted the growth of the cable industry while managing the industry’s regulatory and legislative priorities. The organization's publications and regular meetings keep members apprised of new technologies and programming innovations and its annual trade show, The National Show, offers a platform from which the industry can promote its key business accomplishments, trends and technology developments.

NCTA first was organized as the National Community Television Council in September 1951, when a small group of community antenna (CATV) operators met at a hotel in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. They gathered in response to concern over the Internal Revenue Service's attempts to impose an 8% excise tax on their operations. These business people quickly became aware of other common interests, leading to a series of organizational meetings during September and October 1951 and January 1952. In January 1952, the organization's name officially was changed to National Community Television Association.

NCTA's growth kept pace with the rapidly expanding CATV industry. Within its first year, nearly 40 CATV systems joined the organization. Membership then grew into hundreds by the end of the 1950s and thousands by the end of the 1960s. In the 1960s, the term "Community Antenna Television (CATV)" gave way to the term "cable," reflecting the industry's expanded categories of service – including local news, weather information, and channels of pay television. Accordingly, in 1968, NCTA – while retaining its acronym – changed its official name for the first time, to "National Cable Television Association."

Following the introduction of global telecommunication satellites, the late 1970s and 1980s saw initial explosive growth in cable content, as entrepreneurs gave birth to such networks as CNN, ESPN, MTV, BET, TBS, USA, Discovery, Lifetime, C-SPAN, and eventually hundreds of other channels. During this period, virtually all of the nation’s major programming services also joined NCTA, providing a new dimension to the organization’s representation of cable interests in Washington.

The mid-1990’s marked the beginning of cable’s transformation from a one-way video provider to a much broader interactive telecommunications solution. By 2006, cable operators had largely completed a national fiber optic upgrade which enables them to provide consumers a bounty of new services such as high definition television, high speed internet access, digital phone, and digital video recording. To reflect this anticipated transformation, NCTA in 2001 – while again retaining its acronym – changed its name for the second time to the "National Cable & Telecommunications Association.”

Today, NCTA remains headquartered in Washington, D.C., and employs a staff of about 100. The organization’s departments include: Administration and Finance; Association Affairs (including grassroots operations); Government Relations; Industry Affairs (including management of their trade show, The Cable Show); Legal Affairs; Program Network Policy; Communications & Public Affairs; and Science & Technology. The association also provides management oversight of two non-profit organizations: Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry’s education foundation, and The Walter Kaitz Foundation, which promotes diversity in cable’s workforce, supplier chain, content, and marketing.