The NCTA first was organized as the National Community Television Council on September 18, 1951, when a small group of community antenna television (CATV) operators met at a hotel in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. They gathered in response to concern over the Internal Revenue Service’s attempts to impose an 8 percent excise tax on their operations. These businessmen quickly became aware of other common interests, leading to a series of organizational meetings during September and October 1951 and January 1952. On January 28, 1952, the organization’s name officially was changed to National Community Television Association.

The NCTA’s growth kept pace with the rapidly expanding CATV industry. Within its first year, close to 40 CATV systems joined the organization. Membership then grew into the hundreds by the end of the 1950s and the thousands by the end of the 1960s. In 1968 the term “community antenna television” gave way to the term “cable,” reflecting the industry’s expanded categories of service, including local news, weather information, and channels of pay television. Accordingly, the NCTA changed its official name to National Cable Television Association. It subsequently changed its name again, in May 2001, to National Cable and Telecommunications Association in order, according to an April 30, 2001, press release, to reflect “cable’s transformation from a one-way video provider to a competitive supplier of advanced, two-way services.”

Today, the NCTA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It represents cable systems serving over 80 percent of U.S. cable subscribers, as well as cable program services (networks), hardware suppliers, and other services related to the industry. The organization is divided into departments including: Administration and Finance; Association Affairs; Government Relations; Industry Affairs; Legal; Programming and Marketing; Public Affairs; Research and Policy Analysis; and Science and Technology.

The NCTA hosts an annual industry-wide trade show and produces a number of reports and periodicals. It also maintains an extensive website featuring up-to date cable statistics, addresses, and listings (www.ncta.com). From 1979 until 1997 the NCTA recognized outstanding programming for cable television through the National Academy of Cable Programming, which presented the Cable Ace Awards. After that date the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences began to recognize cable programming within the Emmy competition. The NCTA currently presents the Vanguard Awards for personal achievement in a number of categories, including Distinguished Vanguard Awards for Leadership, Young Leadership, Programmers, Associates and Affiliates, Science and Technology, Cable Operations and Management, Government and Community Relations, and Marketing.

The Association also sponsors Cable in the Classroom, a free service that provides copyright cleared material to schoolrooms. According the NCTA website, the service reaches 81,000 public and private schools, providing materials to 78 percent of K–12 students in the United States.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the NCTA has been involved with numerous decisions and controversies surrounding the 1996 Telecommunications Act. More generally, the growing presence of the Internet and other broadband technologies have confronted the cable industry with increasing competition from Direct Broadcast Satellite, and the association has focused efforts on defense of cable modem delivery of high-speed Internet service.