Let’s Celebrate 50 Years of Cable Technology and Innovation.

Bravo! Your Society’s 50th anniversary is especially celebrative. Hip, hip, hooray! This milestone signifies a splendid, half-century heritage and, moreover, ushers in what promises to be an even more remarkable 50 years for the industry and its technical professionals. Applause!

SCTE•ISBE Mission and History

Knowledge sharing. Thought leadership. Workforce expertise. Each is a hallmark of SCTE•ISBE’s history, and each forms the framework for SCTE•ISBE’s future. Through training, certification, standards, and innovation, the Society accelerates deployment of technology to drive business results for the betterment of the industry. A Society cornerstone is 36-year-old Cable-Tec Expo®, the largest cable telecommunications technology event in the Americas.

About SCTE•ISBE
SCTE•ISBE History

50 Years of Accelerating the Deployment of Technology

  • 1969
       

    1969 - Society of Cable Television Engineers created

    First meeting held in the San Francisco Hilton Hotel on June 22, 1969 during NCTA convention.

    1960's
  • 1969
       

    1969 - First SCTE President: Ron Cotten

  • 1970
       

    1970 - First attempt at establishing local SCTE Chapter program

    Chairmen of regional chapters had been selected at Society’s first meeting in 1969. Chapters were established in California, New York-New Jersey (Central Atlantic), North Central in Chicago, and the first Chapter outside of the U.S., in British Columbia, Canada.

  • 1974
       

    1974 - First Member of the Year: Steve Dourdoufis

  • 1974
       

    1974 - First Female Chapter President: Beverly Zane Kurpinski

  • 1974
       

    1974 - First two chapters created – Delaware Valley and Appalachian Mid-Atlantic

  • 1974
       

    1974 - LRC Electronics becomes first Sustaining Member

  • 1975
       

    1975 - First issue of Interval published in March

  • 1976
       

    1976 - First Annual Conference on CATV Reliability in Philadelphia, PA

    The event was co-sponsored by SCTE and the Broadcast, Cable, and Consumer Electronics Society of IEEE.

  • 1977
       

    1977 - Opening of first full-time headquarters office and hiring of paid staff

    Judith Baer becomes Society’s first full-time chief executive staff officer: Executive Director (later becomes Executive Vice President).

  • 1978
       

    1978 - First female SCTE officer, Judith Scharf, elected Secretary

  • 1978
       

    1978 - November 1978 Interval is SCTE’s first Annual Membership Issue

    Later becomes standalone Membership Directory and Yearbook.

  • 1979
       

    1979 - First time two persons receive Member of the Year award: Ken Gunter and Ralph Haimowitz

  • 1979
       

    1979 - 138 members elevated to Senior Member in April

  • 1979
       

    1979 - Interface 1979 “Decisions for the 80’s,” held November 7 & 8 in Monterey, California

    Society’s first conference devoted to fiber optic technology.

  • 1979
       

    1979 - SCTE starts accepting Visa and MasterCharge cards

    For payment of membership dues, publications and conference registration.

  • 1980
       

    1980 - Newly instituted President’s Award presented to Southern CATV Association

    1980's
  • 1980
       

    1980 - Fall Conference on Emerging Technologies, “Teletext and Viewdata” was first SCTE conference to officially use the name “Conference on Emerging Technologies.”

  • 1981
       

    1981 - Initial requirements for SCTE Voluntary Professional Cable Television Engineer Designation Program defined

    Use of “Professional Cable Television Engineer” terminology runs into problems with state licensing boards for professional engineers, so program must be refined and renamed. This effort establishes framework for Broadband Communications Technician/Engineer (BCT/E) program.

  • 1982
       

    1982 - After struggling for several years, Chapter and Meeting Group program is revamped and officially gets underway

    First Chapter under the new structure is Appalachian Mid-Atlantic Chapter.

  • 1983
       

    1983 - Sally Kinsman becomes first female elected to Board of Directors

    (Region 2 Director)

  • 1983
       

    1983 - First SCTE Cable-Tec Expo held in Dallas, Texas

  • 1984
       

    1984 - Steve Cox hired as interim Executive Vice President

    May 1984

  • 1984
       

    1984 - Bill Riker hired as SCTE’s full-time Executive Vice President

    October 1984

  • 1984
       

    1984 - Communications Technology magazine becomes SCTE’s official trade journal

  • 1984
       

    1984 - Satellite Tele-Seminar Program introduced

  • 1986
       

    1986 - First Technical Tuition Assistance Program recipient: Ruben Gonzalez of Group W Cable

  • 1985
       

    1985 - Technical Tuition Assistance Program authorized by Board of Directors

    Initially funded by matching donations from Rex Porter and National Cable Television Institute.

  • 1985
       

    1985 - BCT/E program officially introduced at Cable-Tec Expo ’85


    First exam was Category IV “Distribution Systems.”

  • 1986
       

    1986 - Sally Kinsman becomes first female Member of the Year

  • 1987
       

    1987 - Fiber Optics Seminar coordinated by the Florida Chapter becomes the predecessor to annual Conference on Emerging Technologies

  • 1987
       

    1987 - SCTE acquires its first owned headquarters office space at 669 Exton Commons, Exton, Pennsylvania

  • 1987
       

    1987 - First person certified in BCT/E program: Ron Hranac

    Certified at BCT level.

  • 1987
       

    1987 - First BCE certified candidate: Les Read

  • 1988
       

    1988 - First Hall of Fame inductee: Cliff Paul

  • 1988
       

    1988 - President’s Award program resurrected, becomes an annual award; first recipient: Andy Devereaux

    This award is now called Chairman’s Award

  • 1989
       

    1989 - Field Operations Award program started; award sponsored by Telecrafter Products

  • 1989
       

    1989 - Installer Certification Program introduced

  • 1990
       

    1990 - First Vendors’ Day-type event held in Atlanta, Georgia

    December 4th, featuring technical seminars in the morning and vendors’ tabletop exhibits in the afternoon. Sponsored by SCTE’s Chattahoochee Chapter. Steve Allen organizes “Vendors’ Appreciation Day” the following year in California, the predecessor to Vendors’ Day events that are now held in several locations around the country each year.

    1990's
  • 1991
       

    1991 - First Fellow Member: Ron Hranac

  • 1992
       

    1992 - Board of Directors changes Executive Vice President title to President; former position of President changed to Chairman of the Board.

    First Chairman of the Board: Ron Hranac

  • 1992
       

    1992 - Fiber Optics Seminar changed to Fiber Optics Plus

  • 1993
       

    1993 - Fiber Optics Plus becomes annual Conference on Emerging Technologies

  • 1993
       

    1993 - First Polaris Award recipient: Tom Staniec

    Award sponsored by CED magazine and Corning

  • 1994
       

    1994 - SCTE-List, an Internet e-mail reflector catering to the cable industry’s technical community, created by the University of Wisconsin’s Dave Devereaux-Weber

  • 1994
       

    1994 - First meeting of the Loyal Order of the 704 at Cable-Tec Expo ’94

  • 1995
       

    1995 - ANSI recognizes SCTE as a Standards Development Organization for the broadband industry

    August 7, 1995

  • 1995
       

    1995 - Groundbreaking ceremony for new SCTE headquarters building at 140 Philips Road, Exton, PA

  • 1995
       

    1995 - First Women in Technology award recipient: Pam Arment

    Award sponsored by Communications Technology magazine

  • 1995
       

    1995 - SCTE changes name from Society of Cable Television Engineers to Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers

  • 1996
       

    1996 - Ted Woo, Ph.D., joins SCTE in January as its first Director of Standards

  • 1996
       

    1996 - New SCTE headquarters opens in February

  • 1996
       

    1996 - Digital Video Subcommittee holds its inaugural meeting in May in Los Angeles, and the Data Standards Subcommittee holds its inaugural meeting in June in Nashville

  • 1996
       

    1996 - First Milton Jerrold Shapp Scholarship recipient: Joshua Butters

    Scholarship funded by then-General Instrument (later Motorola), and administered by SCTE

  • 1996
       

    1996 - F Port (Female Outdoor) Physical Dimensions becomes SCTE’s first ANSI standard

    DVS 031, Digital Video Transmissions Standard for Cable Television becomes SCTE’s first ITU international standard

  • 1998
       

    1998 - John Clark hired as SCTE President

  • 2000
       

    2000 - First Chapter Leadership Conference held at SCTE HQ in Exton, PA, the day after the spring Board of Directors meeting

    2000's
  • 2001
       

    2001 - First Innovation in Deployment of Emerging Applications (IDEA) award recipient: Randy Goehler of Cox Communications

    Award sponsored by CED magazine, Lucent Technologies, and Multichannel News’ Inside Broadband

  • 2000
       

    2000 - Circle of Eagles formed, combining Charter Members, past Presidents and Chairmen, and Hall of Fame inductees

  • 2001
       

    2001 - First Star of Integrity award recipient: David Pangrac

    Award sponsored by C-COR.net

  • 2001
       

    2001 - First Broadband Knowledge Summit held in Denver, Colorado

    Co-presented by SCTE and National Cable Television Institute

  • 2001
       

    2001 - International Ambassador program created

  • 2002
       

    2002 - Broadband Specialist suite of certifications introduced

  • 2002
       

    2002 - Director-at-Large Canada position added to Board of Directors

  • 2002
       

    2002 - Operación Español program introduced in August

  • 2003
       

    2003 - SCTE approved its 100th cable telecommunications standard in early 2003

    An effort conducted in conjunction with CableLabs®, the standard’s name was SCTE Applications Platform Part 1: OCAP 1.0 Profile

  • 2003
       

    2003 - SCTE President/CEO John Clark receives the Vanguard Award at NCTA’s The National Show

  • 2004
       

    2004 - SCTE InfoScope, SCTE Career Center, and SCTE Live Learning introduced

  • 2005
       

    2005 - Board of Directors established SCTE Foundation

  • 2007
       

    2007 - SCTE Foundation began hosting annual Tom Polis Classic Golf Tournament

  • 2009
       

    2009 - SCTE celebrates 40th anniversary

  • 2009
       

    2009 - Mark Dzuban hired as SCTE President/CEO

  • 2009
       

    2009 - SCTE Canadian Summit launched in February

  • 2010
       

    2010 - In July Daniel Howard was hired as SCTE’s first Chief Technology Officer

    2010's
  • 2011
       

    2011 - In September the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that SCTE was recipient of a EMMY® Award for “Local Cable Ad Insertion Technology – Cable Digital Standards for Local Cable Advertising.”

    The award was presented on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

  • 2011
       

    2011 - SCTE-Tuck Executive Leadership Program introduced

  • 2012
       

    2012 - SCTE-Georgia Tech Management Development Program introduced

  • 2013
       

    2013 - Corporate Alliance Program created

    First CAP member was Comcast

  • 2013
       

    2013 - Catherine Oakes Memorial Leadership Scholarship for Women created in honor of the senior vice president, operations for SCTE·ISBE who passed away unexpectedly in 2013

    First scholarship recipient, in 2014, was Jeanie Warfield, product manager, video solutions for Time Warner Cable Business Class

  • 2014
       

    2014 - Energy 2020 program announced at Cable-Tec Expo 2014

  • 2014
       

    2014 - SCTE introduces its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), to focus on training and provide certification resources to cable industry personnel around the world

  • 2016
       

    2016 - First electronic version of Interval launched

  • 2016
       

    2016 - Launch of CORTEX Expert Development System, introduced at Cable-Tec Expo 2016

  • 2018
       

    2018 - First patent for System and Method for Energy Consumption Management in Broadband Telecommunications Networks via Adaptive Power Management

196919691970197419741974197419751976197719781978197919791979197919801980198119821983198319841984198419841986198519851986198719871987198719881988198919891990199119921992199319931994199419951995199519951996199619961996199619982000200120002001200120012002200220022003200320042005200720092009200920102011201120122013201320142014201620162018
SCTE•ISBE
Accelerate the Deployment of Technology to the Advantage of Our Industry.
Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers® (SCTE)
International Society of Broadband Experts® (ISBE)
140 Philips Road, Exton, PA 19341
800.542.5040
scte.org • isbe.org
Photos and video graciously supplied by The Cable Center and SCTE•ISBE