The Sopranos ran on a satellite network.
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to paying subscribers via radio frequency ( RF ) signals transmitted through coaxial cables , or in more recent systems , light pulses through fiber-optic cables . Home Box Office ( HBO ) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office , Inc. . The Sopranos . After the pilot was ordered in 1997 , the show premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on January 10 , 1999 , and ran its six seasons with 86 episodes to June 10 , 2007 .