It looks like the previous owner to my home took a black copper wire from a tv splitter of some kind and then connected it to a copper pipe a few feet away.
I’m trying to remove all of this tv wiring. What is the point of this current setup, and more importantly is it safe for me to remove it from the tv splitter and the pipe?
It is a ground wire. If you are removing the TV wires then you can remove the ground wire as well.
There is a larger ground wire from your main breaker panel to a ground rod (or two) and/or to water pipes. That wire is critical to safe operation of your electrical system. This wire is not.
To answer your question as to why, all signal cable digital or otherwise are susceptible to electrical interference. For this reason the majority of signal cables, coax included, are screened with an interference barrier. For this barrier to work correctly it needs to be grounded.
That wire is being used to ground the tv wires.
If removing all the wires it will not be needed anymore, no wires no need for grounding air.
