Cable stations broadcast educational television programs at specific times (usually early in the morning) commercial-free and notified Cable in the Classroom as to when the shows would air, which maintained a master list for educators to reference.

Copyrights were cleared so that educators could use the content of the listed programs as they wished for their syllabus and learning plans.

Over the years however, many networks discontinued the promotion of Cable in the Classroom or setting aside programming for the organization's purposes, ceding more to direct marketing of their educational television programming to teachers and school districts via their home video departments, their Internet sites, or in the cases of networks such as ABC Family (now Freeform), Disney Channel and Cartoon Network (now part of WBD), removing their involvement altogether, commensurate with the Internet ending other cable services tied to traditional scheduling such as "near video on demand".

Streaming video also played a factor in the reduction of Cable in the Classroom, as educators can now access and play content at any time via computers connected to in-classroom televisions, interactive smartboards, and video projectors, rather than on a set schedule requiring pre-recording of content.

The Canadian effort ended as vertically integrated cable and satellite providers purchased networks and campaigned successfully for the CRTC to relax Canadian content restrictions that defined them to schedule programming in a certain manner, including educational programming.