Can an analog TV cause "noise" on the cable line?

[DoctorQuest]

My brother-in-law was having problems with ONE channel on his old (and I mean OLD) analog television. He had the cable company come out and the tech hooked up an oscilloscope type device and told him that his TV was actually the cause of the issue as it was producing some sort of signal interference (noise).

Now, granted, the TV was used to watch the Kennedy-Nixon debates and is probably way overdue for replacement but the whole thing sort of made me curious if an analog TV could even cause such a problem.

Anyone ever seen such a thing?

[Nefaro]

Yes, I've heard of such problems with various electric devices.  Mostly related to ones that feed such noise back through the AC power lines in someone's house and causing extra static or white noise on others.

There are various types of filters you can buy to address such issues.  Although you probably won't find most of them in a neighborhood store since it's pretty uncommon for them to be really noticeable these days. 


As an example of AC noise feedback, just think of having a small TV in the kitchen running when you turn on some super mega-size blender (on the same AC circuit).  You may get extra white noise or fuzziness on the TV screen.  Same thing can happen between other devices, especially if one is faulty (or maybe old).