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Any local access channels still use radio stations?

S

ssetta

I posted this on the New England TV board, and I thought I'd post it here, too.

This is something that seems to be dwindling. I remember when we first got cable TV in Natick back in 1989, I think the Natick channel had what was then WCDJ 96.9 on it, which continued into the WBCS era, as they never bothered to change the station. Then I remember the Pay Per View Previews channel used to have 100.7 WZLX, which was also on another local access station here. After awhile, both had WZLX, but in 1997 or so, it was switched to WBOS for about a year or so. They had WBMX for a few years, and then switched to WCRB. Now, it's all elevator instrumental music. It seems like not very many local access channels still use radio. And I wonder if there's any that still use old fashioned graphics.

Does anyone here have an access channel that still has a real radio station on it?
 
For the message wheel. I actually went on YouTube, and apparently, there was one that Service Electric in PA used that had old-fashioned graphics up until 2006 or so. But I don't think the audio was a radio station.
 
Randolph used to have WODS until this earlier this year switching now to Mix 104.1
 
How many of you remember when cable companies tried their own radio stations? Didn't work out that well they only lasted a year or two.
 
MickeyD said:
How many of you remember when cable companies tried their own radio stations? Didn't work out that well they only lasted a year or two.
Click to expand...

Was that "digital cable radio?" I remember seeing it advertised back in the very early 90s on Continental Cablevision, but never really knew what it was.
 
Northbridge MA-Local access ch 12 on Charter uses the audio from Boston 89.7 for the community bulletin board.
 
North Andover now streams their access on-line radio over their local access tv message board. They have applied for a low power FM license but were beaten out by UMass Lowell for the same frequency.
 
jlehmann said:
MickeyD said:
How many of you remember when cable companies tried their own radio stations? Didn't work out that well they only lasted a year or two.
Click to expand...

Was that "digital cable radio?" I remember seeing it advertised back in the very early 90s on Continental Cablevision, but never really knew what it was.
Click to expand...

I am not sure what they called it, but it was locally originated music with DJ's and it was on Continental Cable. I used to listen in Revere. Not really sure where it originated but it was "exquisitely bad".
 
I seem to remember in the early 90's in Billerica we had Continental Cable and if you hooked up your radio to the cable line you would be getting WXKS-Fm at 107.5, WAAF at 106.9, WMJX at 106.3, MTV audio on 95.7 and HBO audio on 92.3. The funny thing was though about the the MTV audio is that when the cable company ran their local ads on the TV the audio feed into the radio had the national MTV commercials like it was fed directly from the satellite feed.
 
Wow they had cable radio in the early 90s? I think this should be discussed in another topic. I always thought cable radio was only available in very rural areas. I don't think it was ever available in Natick. There might be some companies that still offer it in very rural areas, but I'm not sure.
 
Cable FM was in Peabody when Adams-Russell built out in 1981. The primary use was MTV and HBO audio in stereo. Unfortunately the quality was awful.

ssetta said:
Wow they had cable radio in the early 90s? I think this should be discussed in another topic. I always thought cable radio was only available in very rural areas. I don't think it was ever available in Natick. There might be some companies that still offer it in very rural areas, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
 
The Jordan Hospital in Plymouth has 95.9 WATD as the radio station on hospital TV system
 
The "local radio station" on Continental Cable in the 80s as I recall was called WLHE. It was broadcast over the local community billboard channels usually on channel 6. It was run by someone named Larry Haber (WLHE-Larry Haber Enterprises) and had a studio in an office building on Main Street in Woburn. A large white victorian house that contained professional offices. I don't recall ever hearing advertising on the air and do not know if Mr. Haber bought the time from Continental or how he paid for the office space. I believe all the DJs were volunteers. WLHE could have been a good place for someone with no experience to get some practice and make air check tapes to apply for jobs at "real" stations. I do remember someone named Frank Fitz who was on WLHE and later was heard on a few of the then locally programmed suburban stations that still existed in the 80s and 90s.
 
Ahhhh Larry Haber, there is a name I have not heard in a while, and could have gone the rest of my life without hearing!

He was working for NECN at one point, I have no idea where he is now.
 
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