In the early days of satellite TV, it was a costly service mainly reserved for the wealthy, research organizations, or broadcast businesses. Private users who could afford the large satellite dishes also footed a pricey bill for its initial set-up. For as much a status symbol as a means for accessing the inaccessible, satellite TV began as a benefit reserved for the wealthy. News and broadcast networks also employed satellites to convey news between stations and field reporters. Government and private research organizations used satellite TV to transmit data between research facilities, field crews, and main headquarters. However, in time, access to Hughesnet satellite TV revealed its advantages to the average consumer. Eventually, even schools and universities accessed foreign programming to further the education of its students.

Those wishing to learn foreign languages, for instance, could watch satellite television programming created by those foreign cultures. These foreign satellite TV programs opened a world of knowledge to the student of foreign languages. For instance, these Hughes Net satellite TV shows afforded students the opportunity to hear foreign languages spoken by native speakers in a normal setting. Rather than forcing a student to learn pronunciation and diction from another secondary speaker, satellite TV programming provided direct resources that enabled the foreign language student to hear the rhythm and pitch of natural speech.

Such programs also clearly exposed certain cultural differences and habits of other nations that were sometimes difficult to explain without watching these traits in action. A picture was certainly “worth a thousand words” when, for instance, satellite TV first aired a German game show that featured nudity in its programming in 1990.

Juxtaposed with the rigid cultural expectations inherent in German society, such as the use of formal language in the workplace, being a “good citizen”, and a reflexive intolerance for misuse of resources via state sponsorship of a massive country-wide recycling program, the game show revealed more than its contestants. It bore the paradox of a culture whose political history leaned toward the rigid homogeneity of its citizens while embracing a laissez-faire attitude about the unclothed body. The satellite TV show also exposed America’s own Puritanical roots by shocking its viewers.

The cultural views and beliefs of other nations were also revealed when Americans accessed other countries’ satellite TV programs. For instance, a random incident of gun violence during a robbery in a city like Washington D.C. would hardly be touted as newsworthy beyond local media coverage. However, this same event could likely be featured on national British news as another shocking example of America’s brutal love affair with firearms, despite the inherent dangers of guns to American citizens. In a country like England, where even the police force goes unarmed except for a stick, a brief British news clip streamed through satellite internet revealed more about its national sentiments toward American gun policy than an entire treatise could explain.

As a window to the world, satellite TV brought the entire planet home to America, reflecting a picture of Americans through the eyes of others. As much a mirror as a window, satellite TV bridged cultures across continents, affording Americans a unique new self-awareness. Those people who get Hughes Net satellite have opened their eyes to a new world of culture and global understanding that couldn’t be found without traveling the world.