I keep hearing callers to the Howard Stern show ask the question "Why can't I get Howard TV (Howard Stern's On-Demand channel) on satellite?" Once and for all, here's the answer:
1) The channel is not Pay Per View, it's "On Demand" which means that when I click Play on my remote, the show starts. Howard TV is not like most of the other channels on your cable box where you flip to it and watch whatever is scheduled to be on. You go to the channel and there are dozens of shows to choose from that will start exactly when you want it. Pay per view on satellite requires you to wait until the "top of the hour" or "bottom of the hour" to start the show, so you are still on their schedule.
2) Satellite transmissions do not have enough bandwidth to stream different shows to millions of houses (which is called "Multi-casting"). They transmit all channels at the same time to everyone. Your set-top box filters out all the channels you aren't watching. That's called broadcasting. Just like your local TV station can be picked up with a rooftop antenna because it is sending out one signal to everyone that is within receiving distance. If they (Satellite or local channels) were to try On Demand channels, it means that (theoretically) everyone that can receive a signal can watch a completely different show at any time.
That being said, technology is moving pretty quickly. Compression and wireless bandwidth improvements may soon make On Demand viable over satellite, but not necessarily in the near future.
As a side note, Howard's show is better than ever since he moved to Sirius Satellite radio (not XM), so you should check it out if you can.
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