Cable channels that are no longer with us

[PTBoardOp94]

And about Tech TV, I was more entertained watching the Thunderbirds than watching Leo Laporte showing the latest kewl things you can do with e-mail.

To an extent, I was too. The G4 of today does nothing for me, but Thunderbirds and Max Headroom were two "dramas" that some TTV fans dissed. I liked them both, and I don't think either was a bad fit for the network. Better than additional reruns of Fresh Gear.

 

[bpatrick]

I remember when MTV came on they had all sorts of videos, I used to see Cliff Richard videos. For those who don't know Cliff Richard is a HUGE recording artist everywhere in the world but the United States and Canada. (His few American hits were "Devil Woman," "We Don't Talk Anymore," and "Suddenly [with Olivia Newton-John])

Cliff Richard had another hit song, "The Young Ones"; in fact, he was popularized in the British sitcom of the same name - which was also shown, late Sunday nights, on MTV.

Cliff Richard was, arguably, the UK's reigning king of rock 'n' roll in the
era just before the Beatles. I don't think he broke through on the U.S.
charts until the '70s.

 

[neo11]

CNNfn - went off the air in 2004
The Box - technically not defunct, I believe it exists in the UK and Ireland, but no longer in the US
Apple TV - short lived NYC area cable channel, circa late 80s I believe
Telecompras Shopping Network - Spanish-language home shopping
Empire Sports Network
Boyz Channel, Girlz Channel
SportsChannel America!
Satellite News Channel
CBS TeleNoticias
Q2 (QVC2)
The International Channel (not 100% sure if it's defunct or not but haven't seen it mentioned in a while. Also not sure if it was only shown in the NYC area or not. It showed programming from international channels in lots of different languages, from German to Greek to Chinese to Spanish).
MSG2 (spillover channel of the MSG Network if there were conflicting sporting events at the same time...I believe it goes by a different name now)
Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic, but CSN was far different and better than the current version)
Also in the NYC area we had S+, which was actually over-the-air (Channel 31) but niched like a cable channel, with business news during the day and sports at night. It lasted about a year at most.

As far as networks which still exist but are a shell of their former selves....there's many that can be added to the already long list. I would nominate Bravo, which has gone from showing foreign and independent films to now showing televised poker. Ugh.

 

[azumanga]

The International Channel (not 100% sure if it's defunct or not but haven't seen it mentioned in a while. Also not sure if it was only shown in the NYC area or not. It showed programming from international channels in lots of different languages, from German to Greek to Chinese to Spanish).

Yes, it's a national channel -- and it's defunct. A few years back, they became AZN TV and concentrated more on Asian programming. AZN folded earlier this year.

 

[Markxxx]

on MTV.

"Devil Woman" was his first major hit in the states. He had a few minor hits like "Living Doll," and his version of "It's All In The Game" that broke the top 40, but I doubt they got much higher than that. I used Cliff as an example because he's very well known everywhere BUT the United States.

 

[CrazeeCarroll1]

WOW!!!!! I love these kind of topics when they pop up.... There are so many channels that came and went that it is hard to remember them all, but here are some that if you had a BUD in the 80's you will remember...
1. SelecTV- OTA Movie Channel that also was on C-Band had a pretty good mix of movies till it's death in 1989
2. Starion- Another C-Band movie Channel that went poof, but would be revived as what we know today as Encore.
3. Fun Network- XXX adult movie channel that was also the home of K-SAT Radio which would change to C-Sat Radio.
4. Peoples Choice PPV- This Channel although not well known as a lot of PPV's was became famous as it came from the same uplink company that would make a C-Band Hero called Capt'n Midnight.
5. HTN (Home Theatre Network)- G - PG13 movies was on the old F3 satellite
6. First Run- One of the first companies to service the C-Band PPV Market.
There are a bunch of others that come to mind, but being sick as a dog the brain ain't to sharp LOL... CC1

 

[azumanga]

5. HTN (Home Theatre Network)- G - PG13 movies was on the old F3 satellite

I recall HTN being on the air in the evenings only, sharing time with an educational channel that would eventually become TLC. I know, as my local cable system (the old Group W in Pinellas) carried both in 1983 -- and both were scrambled.

 

[CrazeeCarroll1]

Now that you mention it I believe you are right... I don't remember if it was an educational channel though I want to say it was a shopping channel, but may be wrong... CC1

 

[WPPCProductions]

TNN- The Nashville Network.
They tried to revive it as The National Network.
Now it is Spike

Yes Tha Nashville Network was the best channel around until CBS MTV Crap Networks destroyed it.CMT is a waste of bandwidth with crappy programimg and GAC is going the down the same road to distuction.

The viewers got to wake up and stop watching this crap reality programing,
I wonder why this country is going down the drain.

 

[MarcB]

What are you talking about? GAC is still Country Programming. Even the non-music programming (which isn't much) is country oriented. What do you want? Do you want them to show Country Music Videos 24/7?

 

[stdjsb25]

1. SelecTV- OTA Movie Channel that also was on C-Band had a pretty good mix of movies till it's death in 1989
2. Starion- Another C-Band movie Channel that went poof, but would be revived as what we know today as Encore.

SelecTV and Starion were one and the same. Starion had purchased SelecTV circa 1986, and by the late 1980's, SelecTV was renamed "Starion Premiere Cinema" and died a nice death around 1991.

 

[imhomerjay]

What are you talking about? GAC is still Country Programming. Even the non-music programming (which isn't much) is country oriented. What do you want? Do you want them to show Country Music Videos 24/7?

In some cases, that's probably exactly what some folks want--whatever a station signed on doing is what they must do for all time henceforth.

I happen to agree with you--for the limited time GAC isn't airing actual music, the programming is still aimed squarely at that audience.

 

[Morgan Wick]

What are you talking about? GAC is still Country Programming. Even the non-music programming (which isn't much) is country oriented. What do you want? Do you want them to show Country Music Videos 24/7?

In some cases, that's probably exactly what some folks want--whatever a station signed on doing is what they must do for all time henceforth.

I happen to agree with you--for the limited time GAC isn't airing actual music, the programming is still aimed squarely at that audience.

Except you could still say the same about CMT, it's just that there's less music. From what I've seen, they're still oriented at, if not exactly the country music audience, at least a stereotype of it.

 

[BrigThomson]

I don't know if this actually got on cable systems..it might have in the "After Midnight" slots, but does anyone remember the Sat channel American Triple-Xtacy? It was obviously a porn channel, and ran pretty much un-cut porn movies as well as trailers for the latest releases. The one thing I remember fondly about it, was that they had a "shopping" program that ran a couple times a day that mocked the various Home Shopping Networks. They had a girl host and various porn star guests that played straight-faced as they sold all sorts of "adult" items for your at home pleasure. The channel operated totally in the clear, but of course many channels operated unblocked in the 1980's. The channel bit the dust after the state of Alabama sued in federal court on the basis that the channel violated the statutes prohibiting interstate transportation of pornography..using the satellite as the vehicle for said interstate transportation.