Asheville, NC (September 27, 1968)

[ftballfan]

Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53011963/sept-27-opening-set-for-cable-tv/

2 - WSJK (PBS 2 Sneedville)
3 - WLOS (ABC 13 Asheville)
4 - WANC (IND 62 Asheville)
5 - WCYB (NBC 5 Bristol)
6 - WFBC (NBC 4 Greenville)
7 - 24 Hour Time and Weather
8 - WSPA (CBS 7 Spartanburg)
9 - Reserved for Asheville City Schools
10 - WBIR (CBS 10 Knoxville)
11 - WJHL (CBS 11 Johnson City)
12 - WUNF (PBS 33 Asheville)
13 - Reserved for FM Music

 

[mpepin]

Always seems odd to me that Asheville never carried any of the Charlotte TV stations ( 3 and / or 9 ) early on when just about every other system in the area did.

 

[IM42A]

Always seems odd to me that Asheville never carried any of the Charlotte TV stations ( 3 and / or 9 ) early on when just about every other system in the area did.

I'm pretty sure I got WBTV when I stayed at the Super 8 on Tunnel Road in 1996 or 1997, and I don't think it was a hotel MATV system, so it had to be cable.

 

[mpepin]

They carried 3,9 & 36 scrambled in the mid-band for a time in the early 80's, but I don't think any of them were available on THOMS in the clear at any point.

 

[IM42A]

They carried 3,9 & 36 scrambled in the mid-band for a time in the early 80's, but I don't think any of them were available on THOMS in the clear at any point.

Why would they have carried them scrambled? Were they on some kind of add-on premium service?

 

[mpepin]

Yes. That was basically the deal. My brother was on that system at the time and had the JERROLD 36 channel push button settop with the fine tuning wheel. If you "detuned" the wheel slightly, scrambled channels would "descramble". That's how I know they were scrambled at the time.

 

[IM42A]

Yes. That was basically the deal. My brother was on that system at the time and had the JERROLD 36 channel push button settop with the fine tuning wheel. If you "detuned" the wheel slightly, scrambled channels would "descramble". That's how I know they were scrambled at the time.

So were the Bristol-Kingsport-Johnson City and Knoxville stations in the clear, and the Charlotte stations were scrambled? That doesn't make sense. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that Charlotte stations would be of more interest to Asheville viewers (in-state news and larger market), whereas the others would be of little interest other than for difference of syndicated programming and providing network shows that might be pre-empted in the Asheville-Greenville-Spartanburg market.

 

[mpepin]

The only channel I remeber being available at the time was WCYB-5 out of Bristol along with WSJK-2. I believe the other stations (10, 11 & 19) were dropped fairly recently from that time. THOMS probably thought that they could make some extra $ by adding the Charlotte stations to a premium/pay tier.

 

[IM42A]

The only channel I remeber being available at the time was WCYB-5 out of Bristol along with WSJK-2. I believe the other stations (10, 11 & 19) were dropped fairly recently from that time. THOMS probably thought that they could make some extra $ by adding the Charlotte stations to a premium/pay tier.

Under other circumstances, it would have made almost as much sense, to merge the Tri-Cities and Asheville markets, as it did to make Asheville a part of GSAA. In fact, before WKPT, that was basically the case, at least from the Tri-Cities' point of view, it was their default affiliate.

Having WKPT as a satellite of WLOS also wouldn't have been a bad idea. It's no more incongruous than WMYA-40 being a satellite of WLOS, which when WLOS was carried on 40.2, it basically was. You could have had a Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson market of WYFF/WSPA/WMYA (or WAIM, or WAXA, whatever) as the "big three", and an Asheville-Bristol-Johnson City market of WCYB/WJHL/WLOS.

 

[mpepin]

Having lived in Johnson City, it was very hard to pickup channel 13 in most areas. Only on the higher hills in certain areas brought in a decent picture. Buffalo Mountain blocked most of the signals from the south in most locations.

 

[IM42A]

Having lived in Johnson City, it was very hard to pickup channel 13 in most areas. Only on the higher hills in certain areas brought in a decent picture. Buffalo Mountain blocked most of the signals from the south in most locations.

That's why I say it might have been a plan to have had WKPT (or whatever calls that a WLOS O&O satellite would have had) as a satellite of WLOS. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, WLOS was even carried on cable as far away as parts of southeastern Kentucky, and on translators in Corbin, Middlesboro, and Williamsburg (the latter per 1967 Television Factbook Services Volume).