CONUS Satellite Downlink & Carrier Footprint
SATCOM I: LOCKED (3.94 GHz)
Inaugural Reach
1.4M Homes
Cable Headends
625 Affiliates
Daily Airtime
24.0 Hours
Sat vs Landline Savings
+68.5%
Bill Rasmussen's Breakthrough Discovery (1978–1979)
When Bill Rasmussen looked into regional telephone landlines to broadcast UConn sports, AT&T quoted prohibitive hourly rates ($25/hr per link, 5 hrs/day max). Discovering RCA Satcom I, Rasmussen realized an entire 24-hour national satellite transponder cost $35,000/month flat. It was vastly cheaper to broadcast 24/7 sports nationally than 5 hours locally.
Inaugural Broadcast Matrix • Sept 7, 1979
ON AIR
| EDT | Program | Type | Status |
|---|
Economics: 24h Satellite vs 5h Landlines
24h Satellite Lease: $1,166/day flat • 625 systems fed simultaneously
5h AT&T Landline Grid: ~$3,700/day • restricted to regional northeast
Efficiency Gain: 4.8x more programming hours at 68.5% lower cost per broadcast hour.