thumb|300px|Demonstration of a 30-channel cable TV system in the Netherlands in March 1981. The very first cable networks were operated locally, notably in 1936 by Rediffusion in London in the United KingdomRuss J. Graham, A brief history of Rediffusion and BET, Rediffusion.london. and the same year in Berlin in Germany, notably for the Olympic Games, and from 1948 onwards in the United States and Switzerland. This type of local cable network was mainly used to relay terrestrial channels in geographical areas poorly served by terrestrial television signals.
thumb|300px|Demonstration of a 30-channel cable TV system in the Netherlands in March 1981. The very first cable networks were operated locally, notably in 1936 by Rediffusion in London in the United KingdomRuss J. Graham, A brief history of Rediffusion and BET, Rediffusion.london. and the same year in Berlin in Germany notably for the Olympic Games, and from 1948 onwards in the United States and Switzerland. This type of local cable network was mainly used to relay terrestrial channels in geographical areas poorly served by terrestrial television signals.