This is still used for set-top boxes, at least in Belgium. It happens in the background now, but up until a few years ago when you first got one you'd only see the firmware downloader for an hour or two, with this block diagram where you could follow along:
https://i.imgur.com/hh7eWZr.jpgThe worst part about that was if your signal quality wasn't great. You'd see blocks fail, and it'd take ages for them to come up again.
The boxes now ship with usable firmware preloaded, and will update in the background in the first few days usually.
