Jim Redelfs wrote:
In article , "HeyBub"
wrote:

alongside the RG6 the company also ran a much thinner wire, looks to
be stranded aluminum inside a black jacket. Now what would that
wire be for?

Probably not Aluminum; more likely steel.
It is used as a mechanical support for the cable

That is known in the telephone world as "suspension strand". Of the
CATV drops I've seen so equipped, it's a SOLID wire.

Look at the other end of the cable for additional clues.

While it is often bonded to an earth ground at the house, I have
never seen one bonded to anything at the pole.

Hmm. Mine is attached to the wire-rope that holds up the signal cable. That
is, a wire-rope, about 3/8" strings from pole to pole. The signal cable
hangs from the wire-rope. Every so often there's a splitter box and the
signal cable from the splitter box drops to my house. This signal cable's
"suspension strand" is attached to an eye-hook at my house and clamped to
the wire-rope at the pole end.