Terrestrial Television
1. Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials. The term is more common in Europe, while in North America it is referred to as broadcast television or sometimes over-the-air television (OTA) and requires a tuner to view content.
Terrestrial television broadcasting dates back to the very beginnings of the broadcast television system as a medium itself with the first long-distance public television broadcast from Washington, D.C., on April 7, 1927. The BBC began broadcasting television to the public in 1929, and had a regular schedule of television programmes in 1930. Aside from transmission by high-flying planes moving in a loop using a system developed by Westinghouse called Stratovision, there was virtually no other method of television delivery until the 1950s with the beginnings of cable television, or community antenna television (CATV).
Source: Wikipedia