ON TV was an American subscription television (STV) service that operated in eight markets between 1977 and 1985. Originally established by National Subscription Television, a joint venture of Oak Industries and Chartwell Communications, ON TV was part of a new breed of STV operations that broadcast premium programming—including movies, sporting events, and concerts—over an encrypted signal on a UHF television station and leased decoders to subscribing customers. At its peak in 1982, ON TV boasted more than 700,000 customers—more than half of them in Los Angeles, its most successful market. However, the rapidly expanding availability of cable television, coupled with a recession, caused the business to quickly lose subscribers at the same time that Oak Industries was experiencing severe financial difficulties. Between March 1983 and June 1985, all eight operations closed.

Oak Industries, Inc. was an American electronics company that manufactured a variety of products throughout seven decades in the 20th century. In existence from 1932 to 2000, the company's business lines primarily centered around electronic components and materials, though the company made a high-profile and ultimately failed extension into communications media in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The firm was founded in Crystal Lake, Illinois, moving its headquarters to Rancho Bernardo, California, in the late 1970s and again to Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1990. Corning Inc. purchased Oak in January 2000 primarily for its Lasertron division, a manufacturer of lasers.