The distribution of cable television around the world:

Asia

Mainland China

Cable television is the most common transmission method in all urban areas of mainland China – television aerials are an extremely rare sight. Cable systems in China usually carry all the CCTV channels in Mandarin, along with all the channels of municipal, provincial or regional networks in question. The remaining slots carry the main channels from several other province-level stations, and may carry additional channels from metropolitan stations such as BTV and Shanghai Media Group. They may also carry a local channel for a particular sub-provincial municipality, prefecture or county. Individual compounds (hotels, housing estates, etc.) often add a request channel showing karaoke music videos and animations. An extremely small number of compounds with many foreign residents and/or tourists (for example, five-star hotels in Beijing) will also carry selected channels from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Western world. Phoenix Television has the widest carriage under this rule.

Guangdong Province is the only area where channels from Hong Kong can be carried legally. Currently, TVB Jade and TVB Pearl are the only terrestrial channels which are carried by the Guangdong Cable Network. Phoenix Television is also available. In Shenzhen, select foreign channels such as CNN International or HBO are also available at a fee.

Mainland China had more than 44.5 million digital cable television users in 2008.44,5 millions d'abonnés au câble numérique en Chine. ChinaNewsMedia. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2014-01-10.

Unlike many cable television operators in other countries that support two-way modes, China's cable television systems operate in a one-way mode (download only, no upload).

Hong Kong

Cable television was introduced to Hong Kong in 1957 when Rediffusion Television (predecessor to Asia Television) began transmissions as Hong Kong's first television station. This arrangement ended in 1973 when Rediffusion Television was granted a free-to-air terrestrial broadcast licence by the Hong Kong government. Cable television returned to Hong Kong in 1993 when Wharf Cable Television (now known as Cable TV Hong Kong) began operations as Hong Kong's first subscription-based multichannel television platform. Cable TV Hong Kong currently competes with the IPTV platforms HKBN bbTV and now TV as well as the pay television service TVB Network Vision.

India

Japan Cable television was introduced to Japan in 1955, in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture. Until the 1980s, cable television in Japan was mainly limited to rural mountainous areas and outlying islands where the reception of terrestrial television was poor. Cable television started to proliferate in urban areas in the late 1980s, beginning with Tokyo, whose first cable television station began broadcasting in 1987. In the mid-1990s, two-way multichannel cable television platforms first appeared in the market; broadband internet services started being bundled to cable television subscriptions in the late 1990s.

Currently, there are several national and regional cable television providers in Japan, the largest being J:COM, followed by (JCN). These companies currently compete with the Japanese satellite television platforms SKY PerfecTV! and WOWOW, as well as the IPTV platform Hikari TV operated by NTT Plala.

Japan Cable Television Engineering Association (JCTEA) is the umbrella organisation representing 600 member companies involved in research, designing, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of cable television facilities in Japan.

Analog broadcasting on cable television ceased in most areas between July 24, 2011, and March 31, 2015; the transition was completed on April 30, 2015.

Malaysia Cable television was introduced to Malaysia in 1995 when Mega TV was launched as the country's first subscription-based pay television service. Mega TV ceased operations in 2001, due to stiff competition from the Malaysian satellite television operator Astro as well as a failure to expand its range of channels. In 2013, ABNXcess was launched as Malaysia's second cable television service and marked the return of cable television to Malaysia after a 12-year absence.

Maldives There are only two cable television providers in the Maldives (MediaNet Digital and SatLink Digital). As the population of the country is separated across around 200 inhabited islands, there is a cable provider for nearly every island. MediaNet, based in Malé, is the country's largest cable TV provider that provides digital cable (DVB-C) and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) services to most of the Islands in the Maldives. MediaNet holds a distribution license for 100 TV channels and distributes TV channels to nearly all the TV operators of the country. In Maldives, cable television subscribers can get most basic and premium TV channels available in Asia.

Mongolia There are several cable television providers in Mongolia. The main three are SuperVision, Hiimori and Sansar CATV. All three cover approximately 15 national channels and 40 foreign channels, such as CNN, the BBC and NHK. Sansar has the largest network in Ulaanbaatar. SuperVision is the first digital cable television service in Mongolia and other CATVs are planning to launch digital cable television with CA systems.

Philippines NUVUE, the first cable television system in the Philippines, was set up in Baguio by American expatriate Russel Swartley in 1969. Cable television became popular in the 1980s after the Marcos administration. Sky Cable, the largest cable television provider in the Philippines, began operations in 1992. Cable providers have proliferated since then, including Destiny Cable, Cablelink and some regional cable providers. In 2007, Sky Cable introduced the DigiBox, a set-top box that provides a digital television (DTV) signal for higher video quality and prevents illegal cable connections. In 2008, Sky Cable also broadcast the 37th Ryder Cup in high-definition television (HDTV). In 2009, Sky Cable became the first cable television service provider in the Philippines to broadcast the UAAP Games in high definition via the new SkyHD Cable TV service.

Singapore Cable television was introduced to Singapore in 1991 when Singapore Cable Vision (now known as StarHub TV) was licensed to develop and establish a cable-based subscription television network in Singapore. The project was completed in stages between 1995 and 1999 and upon achieving 100% cable television coverage in 1999, SCV was granted exclusivity in the provision of pay television services in Singapore for three years until 2002. That same year, StarHub, a Singapore telecommunications company, acquired SCV and the cable television network was subsequently renamed as StarHub Cable Vision, and again as StarHub TV in 2007. Digital cable was introduced to Singapore in November 2004 and completely replaced the previous analogue cable service by June 2009. As the private ownership of satellite dishes is banned in Singapore, StarHub TV and its IPTV counterpart mio TV (launched in 2007) comprise the only multichannel television platforms available in Singapore as of October 2013. StarHub has announced its intention to close down its cable TV operation in June 2019 and migrate all customer to IPTV. The market has been steadily losing Pay TV customers, predominantly to Internet Streaming Devices, many of which are illegal; as of 2018, the government has issued directions to ISPs to block access to "TV Box Apps".

South Korea Cable television was legalised by the South Korean government in 1993, and was formally introduced in 1995 with an initial 20 operators covering various regions of South Korea. As of 2014, there are 149 cable television operators in South Korea, mainly operating at a regional level. These companies compete with the South Korean satellite television platform SkyLife as well as the IPTV platforms HanaTV, U+ TV and Olleh TV.

Taiwan Cable television is prevalent in Taiwan, as a result of cheap subscription rates (typically around NT$550, or US$15 a month) and the paucity of free-to-air television, which comprises five channels. Programming is mostly in Mandarin and Taiwanese, with some English, Japanese and other foreign-language channels. Miniseries, called Taiwanese drama, are popular. There is a dedicated station for Taiwan's Hakka minority as well as the arrival in 2005 of an aboriginal channel. Almost all programmes are in their original language with traditional Chinese subtitles.

Cable television in Taiwan is claimed by the industry to have begun in 1969 in the Taipei suburb of Shipai, and CATV antennas were subsequently set up in Taiwan's mountainous areas to remedy poor terrestrial reception in those areas. In the 1970s, illegal cable television systems nicknamed "fourth channels" () to differentiate it from the then-three legal Taiwanese terrestrial channels were set up in every location in Taiwan. These illegal cable television systems, while technically considered to have operated outside the boundaries of Taiwanese law because there was no provision for cable television in the Taiwanese Broadcasting Act at that time were, however, popular with the Taiwanese public as they offered more choices in programming compared to those offered by terrestrial television. Fourth channels initially obtained much of their programming from VCR videotapes, which were then played and retransmitted via coaxial cables to connected households with a subscription, and subsequently enjoyed massive growth after the late 1980s when the legalisation of Ku band satellite receptions in 1988 and private installations of C band satellite dishes in 1992 substantially increased the range of available channels. Fourth channels were also popular among Taiwan's then-nascent opposition political parties, who used this medium to communicate pro-democracy views.

Despite the Taiwanese government's unsuccessful attempts in cracking down on the fourth channels, including a major raid in which of coaxial cables were forcibly removed and destroyed over a four-month period in 1991, the straw that broke the camel's back only occurred when the United States began threatening trade sanctions against Taiwan in retaliation for massive copyright infringement committed by the fourth channels, in part due to the fourth channels' illegal retransmission of satellite signals from domestic and foreign sources, especially those from Hong Kong, Japan and the United States which became possible only when satellite receptions became legal as explained above.

Faced with this problem, the Taiwanese government eventually legalized cable television in July 1993 when the Government Information Office ratified the Cable Television Act. In October 1994, 209 companies took part in a series of competitive tenders which were called as a result of the implementation of the said Cable Television Act. On May 13, 1998, Keelung Cable Television () became the first Taiwanese cable television operator to obtain a broadcasting license which covers the city of Keelung in northern Taiwan. By 2001, there were 66 cable television operators in Taiwan, mainly operating at a regional level. These companies compete with the Taiwanese satellite television platform DishHD as well as the IPTV platform CHT MOD operated by Chunghwa Telecom.

The Taiwanese government is pushing for a switch to digital cable television services by 2015; this will be provided through a set-top box and will increase the number of available channels.

Turkey Cable television was introduced to Turkey in the early 1980s when several cable companies started operations such as Sky, Amunarie, ODus and Mediafield.

Europe

Denmark