Overview: Live television fundamentals
Live-TV fundamentals distinguish continuing programme delivery from the physical or network source supplying it.
Over-the-air, cable, satellite and IPTV routes reach the viewer through different source arrangements. Their shared deadline is that programme data continue arriving along a live timeline. These pages establish the source vocabulary before tuning, reception or recording behavior is examined.
What is live TV?
Live TV presents a channel’s continuing programme timeline as new media arrives, with acquisition, delivery and buffering determining what a viewer can currently watch.Over-the-air television
Over-the-air television carries broadcast signals through radio propagation to a compatible receiver, which recovers the selected services for playback.Cable television
Cable television distributes services through an operator’s cable network using a defined transmission and access arrangement that a compatible source must expose to the playback system.Satellite television
Satellite television reception selects a compatible transponder and satellite-input arrangement before recovering programme services and their access/coding requirements.IPTV
IPTV delivers television services through IP networks, with channel discovery, session access and media transport determining the stream a playback system can acquire.