How is satellite TV able to serve so many people?

Question

How does Dish Network and DirectTV able to serve so many people? There is one or a couple of satellites, but thousands of users.

How does one satellite able to serve so many people? Is it something called the transponder?

Answer 1

Perhaps the real question is: "Even though the same signal is received by thousands or even millions of users, how can they control which channels each user is allowed to view?". Answer: Each receiver has a unique serial number. Throughout the day they send, via the satellite, each paid serial number and a list (or group) of which channels that serial number has paid for. The receiver, when it sees its serial number remembers the channels it is allowed to present to the user. Everything is encrypted so it would be very difficult to feed the receiver false information. If a receiver fails to receive its serial number for awhile it shuts down most every channel except for some used to install the receiver and perhaps some free channels (home shopping, PBS).

Answer 2

The satellite is putting out one set of signals and there are millions of receivers that catch the same signal.

It is the same with radio. One transmitter and millions of receivers catch the same signal.