Newton Cable

Newton Cable was a small cable provider in Canada serving communities in Northern Toronto from its offices in Downsview, Ontario.

Newton Cable, or Newton Cable Communications Ltd, was founded in the late 1960s and originally known as Willowdowns Cable. The Newton family got a grant of a cable television (CATV) licence by the Department of Communications (DOC) for parts of Downsview and Willowdale.

The cable system covered a geographic area with Sheppard Avenue as its southern border, Steeles Avenue its northern border, Bathurst Street its eastern border, and Dufferin Street its western border. The main offices, production studio, and head end was originally located at 979 Alness Street and later located at 78 Martin Ross Avenue.

By the early 1990s, cable television operators gradually came under increased pressure from satellite operators and local telephone companies, which sought to compete in the delivery of video and other data services. Cable TV operators, having a strategic advantage in network architecture, responded by beginning to invest heavily to make their systems two-way capable, in part through the use of fibre optic cables and optical transmission systems to allow the delivery of services such as video-on-demand, internet, and more.