Service Electric

Service Electric Cable TV, Inc. (SECTV) is a cable television company serving eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. Through three affiliates, the company operates systems in the Lehigh Valley (Service Electric Cable TV & Communications), Kutztown, Hazleton, Sunbury and Bloomsburg (Service Electric Cablevision) and Wilkes-Barre, Mahanoy City and Sparta, New Jersey (Service Electric Cable Company). Service Electric also offers broadband Internet and telephone services through two partner companies, PenTeleData and Ironton Telephone.^[1]

The company was started in 1948 in Mahanoy City by John Walson, who owned a General Electric appliance store. At the time, the surrounding mountains in Schuylkill County made over-the-air reception from Philadelphia television stations difficult. Walson, who was interested in selling television sets through his store, solved the problem by building an antenna on top of the mountain overlooking the town. He initially ran a cable to his warehouse and then to his appliance store, using boosters to enhance the signal. Along the way, he hooked up neighbors to the antenna system.^[2] Although there are others who have laid claim to the honor, Walson is often recognized for having built the first cable TV system in the United States.^[3]

Until Walson's death, the company was known as Service Electric Cable TV, Inc., which was based in Bethlehem. The company's Lehigh Valley system operated TV2, a local origination cable television station. TV2 continues to carry local news and sports, including coverage of Lehigh Valley Conference high school football, boys and girls basketball and wrestling, as well as several Lehigh University football games. In 2008, Service Electric's 2 Sports began carrying home games of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the AAA-level Minor League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.^[4] The games are televised from Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.^[5]

In the Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania market, Service Electric features a channel that offers split-screen camera monitors from different roads in Luzerne County. On Service Electric's digital package, this is offered as a 24-hour channel, but on the more basic packages, the traffic service shares a channel with KYW's Philadelphia newscasts.

References

External links

• Service Electric Cable Company
• Service Electric Cable TV & Communications
• Service Electric Cablevision
• TV2 Sports
• PenTeleData
• Ironton Telephone
• Article on Service Electric traffic cameras.