Cable Networks: 1983-1986

[KMRichards]

I have been digging through my archives and I found the annual "Field Guide" editions of the broadcast industry magazine "Channels of Communications" for 1983 through 1986.

Within those issues, I found rankings of the cable networks based on number of households. I thought it would be interesting to post them here for comment.

1983 Basic Networks, including Superstations:
WTBS (22 million households)
ESPN (18)
CBN (16.2)
CNN (13.8)
USA (12)
C-SPAN (11.5)
TeleFrance USA (8.7)
WGN (8.4)
Nickelodeon (8.5)
ARTS (7.5)
Daytime (6.6)
PTL (5.8)
Modern Satellite Network (5.1)
Satellite Program Network (5)
The Weather Channel (5)
WOR (4.9)
MTV (4.5)
Cable Health Network (4)
Reuters News View (3.8)
Satellite News Channel (3.1)
Spanish International Network (3.1)
UTV Cable Network (3)
TBN (2)
BET (2)
ACSN The Learning Channel (2)
National Jewish Television (1.9)
CNN2 (1.6)
North American Newstime/The Travel Channel (850,000)
National Christian Network (750,000)
Dow Jones Cable News (600,000)
Financial News Network (500,000)
EWTN (500,000)
Electronic Program Guide (300,000)

In 1986:
ESPN (36.5)
WTBS (34.8)
CNN (33.1)
USA (30.6)
CBN (29.7)
MTV (27.3)
Nickelodeon (25.7)
Nashville Network (25)
C-SPAN (23.8)
Lifetime (21.5)
Financial News Network (19)
The Weather Channel (19)
A&E (17.3)
CNN Headline News (17)
WGN (16.1)
PTL (12)
Satellite Program Network (11.8)
Score (11)
Modern Satellite Network (10.4)
BET (10)
Home Shopping Network (7)
VH-1 (7)
The Silent Network (6.8)
The Learning Channel (6)
CMT (5.5)
WOR (5.4)
Electronic Program Guide (4.8)
TBN (4.5)
AP Newscable (4.2)
Reuters News View (4.2)
Spanish International Network (4.1)
Update! (4)
EWTN (3.8)
ACTS (3.5)
National Jewish Television (3)
Dow Jones Cable News (2.3)
Odyssey (2.2)
National Christian Network (1.35)
KTVT (1.3)
WPIX (1)
AP News Plus (700,000)
Genesis Cable Storytime (650,000)
Boresight (100,000)
American Extasy (50,000)
Discovery Channel (N/A)

1983 Pay Channels:
HBO (9)
Showtime (3.5)
The Movie Channel (2)
Cinemax (1.5)
Playboy Channel (265,500)
Home Theatre Network (155,000)
Galavision (100,000)
Bravo (65,750)
The Entertainment Channel (N/A)

1986 Pay Channels:
HBO (14.5)
Showtime (5.4)
Cinemax (3.3)
The Movie Channel (3.1)
The Disney Channel (2.1)
Playboy Channel (740,000)
Bravo (350,000)
The Nostalgia Channel (350,000)
Home Theatre Network (300,000)
American Movie Classics (270,000)
Galavision (125,000)
Fantasy Unrestricted Network (50,000)
SelecTV (N/A)

Thoughts?<P ID="signature">______________


</P>

 

[miamimadman]

> Thoughts?

I have a question. I don't see E! ?.

 

[KML0224]

> > Thoughts?
>
> I have a question. I don't see E! ?.
>

E! as you know it now has only been around since 1990. It was a low-rent service called MovieTime before that. Greg Kinnear, Katie Wagner and Ken Taylor were all there back then.

Also, didn't the Spanish International Network become Univision?

 

[miamimadman]

Thanks KM!

As early as 1983 we had an all Movie preview channel on United Cable from Canada, which was bought by United Artists cable. I thought that was the early E!. Oh well, thanks for the info!


> > > Thoughts?
> >
> > I have a question. I don't see E! ?.
> >
>
> E! as you know it now has only been around since 1990. It
> was a low-rent service called MovieTime before that. Greg
> Kinnear, Katie Wagner and Ken Taylor were all there back
> then.
>
> Also, didn't the Spanish International Network become
> Univision?
>

 

[KMRichards]

> I have a question. I don't see E! ?.

I only listed what was in the media guides. AFAIK, there was no E! Entertainment Television prior to 1990. There was a very low viewership channel called Movietime which was transformed into E! that year, but I suspect that either it wasn't yet in existence in 1986 or had so few households that it didn't make the cutoff level for the chart I quoted. (I am thinking, in the back of my mind, that Movietime didn't come into existence until 1987 ...)<P ID="signature">______________


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[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Cable Networks, 1983-1986

Many of the cable networks K.M. Richards listed at the top of this thread weren't on 24 hours a day.

As an extreme example, I thought that Daytime was only on for five or six hours a day (1-6 P.M. or 12 Noon-6 P.M. EST/EDT??).

 

[KMRichards]

Re: Cable Networks, 1983-1986

> Many of the cable networks K.M. Richards listed at the top
> of this thread weren't on 24 hours a day.
>
> As an extreme example, I thought that Daytime was only on
> for five or six hours a day (1-6 P.M. or 12 Noon-6 P.M.
> EST/EDT??).

The 1983 edition did list hours of operation for networks not operating around the clock, but did not include that in later years. If it's that important to you, here are the non-24 hour nets from 1983 (all times Eastern, daily unless otherwise noted):

TeleFrance USA: 9pm-1am Mon-Fri, 10-11am Sat/Sun
Nickelodeon: 8am-9pm
ARTS: 9pm-midnight *
Daytime: 1-5pm Mon-Fri
Modern Satellite Network: 10am-1pm Mon-Fri
BET: 8pm-2am
ACSN The Learning Channel: 6am-4pm Mon-Fri, 6am-1pm Sat/Sun
National Jewish Television: 1-4pm Sun
Playboy Channel: 8pm-6am
Home Theatre Network: 4pm-4am
Galavision: 4pm-4am Mon-Fri, around the clock Sat/Sun
Bravo: 8pm-6am

* - This is not correct, though; ARTS replayed their three-hour block from midnight-3am so as to be on 9pm-midnight in both the Eastern and Pacific time zones.

Also, from what I recall, Modern Satellite Network and Daytime shared a transponder on Satcom III-R, as did ACSN and Home Theatre Network (I think National Jewish Television used that same transponder for their Sunday afternoon programming).<P ID="signature">______________


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[VCarter]

Re: Cable Networks, 1983-1986

> > Many of the cable networks K.M. Richards listed at the top
>
> > of this thread weren't on 24 hours a day.
> >
> > As an extreme example, I thought that Daytime was only on
> > for five or six hours a day (1-6 P.M. or 12 Noon-6 P.M.
> > EST/EDT??).
>
> The 1983 edition did list hours of operation for networks
> not operating around the clock, but did not include that in
> later years. If it's that important to you, here are the
> non-24 hour nets from 1983 (all times Eastern, daily unless
> otherwise noted):
>
> TeleFrance USA: 9pm-1am Mon-Fri, 10-11am Sat/Sun
> Nickelodeon: 8am-9pm
> ARTS: 9pm-midnight *
> Daytime: 1-5pm Mon-Fri
> Modern Satellite Network: 10am-1pm Mon-Fri
> BET: 8pm-2am
> ACSN The Learning Channel: 6am-4pm Mon-Fri, 6am-1pm Sat/Sun
> National Jewish Television: 1-4pm Sun
> Playboy Channel: 8pm-6am
> Home Theatre Network: 4pm-4am
> Galavision: 4pm-4am Mon-Fri, around the clock Sat/Sun
> Bravo: 8pm-6am
>
> * - This is not correct, though; ARTS replayed their
> three-hour block from midnight-3am so as to be on
> 9pm-midnight in both the Eastern and Pacific time zones.
>
> Also, from what I recall, Modern Satellite Network and
> Daytime shared a transponder on Satcom III-R, as did ACSN
> and Home Theatre Network (I think National Jewish Television
> used that same transponder for their Sunday afternoon
> programming).
>
Some of these I remember quite well. back around 1980 an earlier version of
MSG network became USA Network. Modern Satellite Network and Daytime merged
with Cable Health Network to be Lifetime. SPN became Tempo Television and
later became CNBC. CNBC also took in FNN as well. there was also CBS Cable,
a proposed premium network called Premiere (which never materialized),KTVU,
a superstation in San Francisco/Oakland, The English Channel, Home Theater
Network became The Travel Channel, CNN2 (later to be CNN Headline News), I
think KTLA in Los Angeles was a superstation briefly at one point, but I am
not quite sure of it. cable TV sure isn't like it used to be!

 

[KML0224]

Re: Cable Networks, 1983-1986

> I think KTLA in Los Angeles was a superstation briefly at one
> point, but I am
> not quite sure of it. cable TV sure isn't like it used to
> be!
>

KTLA-TV (WB) channel 5 of Los Angeles was indeed a superstation, at least in their pre-WB days.

 

[jc]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> I have been digging through my archives and I found the
> annual "Field Guide" editions of the broadcast industry
> magazine "Channels of Communications" for 1983 through 1986.
>
>
> Within those issues, I found rankings of the cable networks
> based on number of households. I thought it would be
> interesting to post them here for comment.
>
> 1983 Basic Networks, including Superstations:
> TeleFrance USA (8.7)
> ARTS (7.5)
> Daytime (6.6)
> PTL (5.8)
> Modern Satellite Network (5.1)
> Satellite Program Network (5)
> Cable Health Network (4)
> Reuters News View (3.8)
> Satellite News Channel (3.1)
> Spanish International Network (3.1)
> UTV Cable Network (3)
> ACSN The Learning Channel (2)
> National Jewish Television (1.9)
> North American Newstime/The Travel Channel (850,000)
> National Christian Network (750,000)
> Dow Jones Cable News (600,000)
> Financial News Network (500,000)

> In 1986:
> CBN (29.7)
> Nickelodeon (25.7)
> Financial News Network (19)
> PTL (12)
> Score (11)
> Modern Satellite Network (10.4)
> The Silent Network (6.8)
> The Learning Channel (6)
> AP Newscable (4.2)
> Reuters News View (4.2)
> Spanish International Network (4.1)
> Update! (4)
> ACTS (3.5)
> National Jewish Television (3)
> Dow Jones Cable News (2.3)
> National Christian Network (1.35)
> AP News Plus (700,000)
> Genesis Cable Storytime (650,000)
> Boresight (100,000)
> American Extasy (50,000)
>
> 1983 Pay Channels:
> Home Theatre Network (155,000)
> Galavision (100,000)
> The Entertainment Channel (N/A)
>
> 1986 Pay Channels:
> Home Theatre Network (300,000)
> American Movie Classics (270,000)
> Galavision (125,000)
> Fantasy Unrestricted Network (50,000)
> SelecTV (N/A)
>
> Thoughts?
>

Very Interesting. It would be interesting if those networks still existed. I was wondering if you can post schedules of these defunct channels. I know some were posted before like Satellite Program Network so that's not what I'm talking about. I also wonder if there's more info on these channels anywhere online?

 

[KMRichards]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> Very Interesting. It would be interesting if those networks
> still existed. I was wondering if you can post schedules of
> these defunct channels. I know some were posted before like
> Satellite Program Network so that's not what I'm talking
> about. I also wonder if there's more info on these channels
> anywhere online?

I would have to say "doubtful" on the schedules. Most of them had such spotty carriage (why else would they have gone under?) that they never qualified for inclusion in TV Guide. I would even go so far as to say that they likely never made it into most newspaper television sections.

It is possible that they may have been listed in some cable system guides, although I can't say I believe there is a high probability of that either.

I can tell you, from having lived at the time in the service area of a cable system that carried Modern Satellite Network, that MSN was a network that would have been best described as the precursor of the infomercial. All three hours were filled with half-hour commercial films, the airtime apparently paid for by the manufacturer of whatever product was featured. For example: The maker of a line of canned foods spending a half-hour showing how their product line could be used in recipes.

I can also tell you what mergers happened, but this is likely old news:
TeleFrance became nothing more than a paid block of time on SPN, which itself later became Tempo (TeleFrance was long gone by then) and then was sold to NBC just so they could use its satellite transponder for CNBC (which later absorbed Financial News Network).
ARTS and The Entertainment Channel merged and became A&E.
PTL became The Inspirational Network after Jim & Tammy were forced out, and still exists under that name.
Daytime and Cable Health Network merged into Lifetime.
Satellite News Channel, of course, folded before its first year of operation.
Spanish International Network became Univision and (I believe) no longer provides programming directly to cable.
ACSN is today's TLC. It, like Travel Channel, are part of Discovery, which didn't exist when either was created.

The rest went under, to the best of my knowledge.<P ID="signature">______________


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[KMRichards]

Re: Cable Networks, 1983-1986

Ummm, not quite.

> Modern Satellite Network and
> Daytime merged
> with Cable Health Network to be Lifetime.

MSN was not part of that merger, and continued on the old Daytime transponder for more than three years afterwards. (Note on my original post that MSN was still listed as a separate network in 1986.)

> SPN became Tempo
> Television and
> later became CNBC. CNBC also took in FNN as well.

As I noted in another post in this thread, SPN/Tempo didn't "become" CNBC; rather, NBC bought out Tempo in order to shut it down and use the transponder for CNBC, as Tempo by that time was on the satellite nearly all cable systems had a dish pointed at, and there were no available transponders on that satellite otherwise.

> Home Theater
> Network became The Travel Channel

No, The Travel Channel already existed in 1983. Again, please refer to my original post.

I would guess that your perceptions came from what your cable system may have done when the Cable Health Network/Daytime merger occurred (many systems had been carrying MSN simply because it was on the same transponder as Daytime, and dropped MSN post-merger). Similarly, I would imagine that some systems replaced HTN with Travel when the former ceased operation.<P ID="signature">______________


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[rugrats1]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> I can tell you, from having lived at the time in the service
> area of a cable system that carried Modern Satellite
> Network, that MSN was a network that would have been best
> described as the precursor of the infomercial. All three
> hours were filled with half-hour commercial films, the
> airtime apparently paid for by the manufacturer of whatever
> product was featured. For example: The maker of a line of
> canned foods spending a half-hour showing how their product
> line could be used in recipes.
>

MSN, I think, was owned by the Modern Talking Picture Service, which distributes these films to schools and groups.

> ARTS and The Entertainment Channel merged and became A&E.

By 1985, they got their own satellite transponder, which enabled them to expand their schedule. Prior to then, they shared with Nickelodeon.

> Spanish International Network became Univision and (I
> believe) no longer provides programming directly to cable.

Still does, but only in markets without a local Univision station.

 

[jc]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> I would have to say "doubtful" on the schedules. Most of
> them had such spotty carriage (why else would they have gone
> under?) that they never qualified for inclusion in TV Guide.
> I would even go so far as to say that they likely never
> made it into most newspaper television sections.
>
> It is possible that they may have been listed in some cable
> system guides, although I can't say I believe there is a
> high probability of that either.
>
> I can tell you, from having lived at the time in the service
> area of a cable system that carried Modern Satellite
> Network, that MSN was a network that would have been best
> described as the precursor of the infomercial. All three
> hours were filled with half-hour commercial films, the
> airtime apparently paid for by the manufacturer of whatever
> product was featured. For example: The maker of a line of
> canned foods spending a half-hour showing how their product
> line could be used in recipes.
>
> I can also tell you what mergers happened, but this is
> likely old news:
> TeleFrance became nothing more than a paid block of time on
> SPN, which itself later became Tempo (TeleFrance was long
> gone by then) and then was sold to NBC just so they could
> use its satellite transponder for CNBC (which later absorbed
> Financial News Network).
> ARTS and The Entertainment Channel merged and became A&E.
> PTL became The Inspirational Network after Jim & Tammy were
> forced out, and still exists under that name.
> Daytime and Cable Health Network merged into Lifetime.
> Satellite News Channel, of course, folded before its first
> year of operation.
> Spanish International Network became Univision and (I
> believe) no longer provides programming directly to cable.
> ACSN is today's TLC. It, like Travel Channel, are part of
> Discovery, which didn't exist when either was created.
>
> The rest went under, to the best of my knowledge.


I knew and remember reading about those channels merging such as ARTS and TEC, Cable Health Network and Daytime

 

[TheUltimateGift]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> PTL became The Inspirational Network after Jim & Tammy were
> forced out, and still exists under that name.

PTL became The Inspirational Network in mid-late 1986. Then after Jim & Tammy were forced out Morris Cerullo bought the network in 1990 and renamed it The Inspiration Network. (minor change, but still a change)

Thanks for posting these though, I think it's cool to go back and see what cable network came from which and whatever happened to a now defunct network.

 

[ibezdechi]

At one time CBS Cable was going head-to-head with A&E.

Their shows were very eclectic including one which featured Canadian Broadcaster Patrick Watson doing interviews with celebrities. I recall the show was called "Signature" which only focused on different angles of the person being interviewed without any reaction shots of the interviewer.

THis is an excellent history of defunct cable channels;

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cablenetwork/cablenetwork.htm


> I have been digging through my archives and I found the
> annual "Field Guide" editions of the broadcast industry
> magazine "Channels of Communications" for 1983 through 1986.
>
>
> Within those issues, I found rankings of the cable networks
> based on number of households. I thought it would be
> interesting to post them here for comment.
>
> 1983 Basic Networks, including Superstations:
> WTBS (22 million households)
> ESPN (18)
> CBN (16.2)
> CNN (13.8)
> USA (12)
> C-SPAN (11.5)
> TeleFrance USA (8.7)
> WGN (8.4)
> Nickelodeon (8.5)
> ARTS (7.5)
> Daytime (6.6)
> PTL (5.8)
> Modern Satellite Network (5.1)
> Satellite Program Network (5)
> The Weather Channel (5)
> WOR (4.9)
> MTV (4.5)
> Cable Health Network (4)
> Reuters News View (3.8)
> Satellite News Channel (3.1)
> Spanish International Network (3.1)
> UTV Cable Network (3)
> TBN (2)
> BET (2)
> ACSN The Learning Channel (2)
> National Jewish Television (1.9)
> CNN2 (1.6)
> North American Newstime/The Travel Channel (850,000)
> National Christian Network (750,000)
> Dow Jones Cable News (600,000)
> Financial News Network (500,000)
> EWTN (500,000)
> Electronic Program Guide (300,000)
>
> In 1986:
> ESPN (36.5)
> WTBS (34.8)
> CNN (33.1)
> USA (30.6)
> CBN (29.7)
> MTV (27.3)
> Nickelodeon (25.7)
> Nashville Network (25)
> C-SPAN (23.8)
> Lifetime (21.5)
> Financial News Network (19)
> The Weather Channel (19)
> A&E (17.3)
> CNN Headline News (17)
> WGN (16.1)
> PTL (12)
> Satellite Program Network (11.8)
> Score (11)
> Modern Satellite Network (10.4)
> BET (10)
> Home Shopping Network (7)
> VH-1 (7)
> The Silent Network (6.8)
> The Learning Channel (6)
> CMT (5.5)
> WOR (5.4)
> Electronic Program Guide (4.8)
> TBN (4.5)
> AP Newscable (4.2)
> Reuters News View (4.2)
> Spanish International Network (4.1)
> Update! (4)
> EWTN (3.8)
> ACTS (3.5)
> National Jewish Television (3)
> Dow Jones Cable News (2.3)
> Odyssey (2.2)
> National Christian Network (1.35)
> KTVT (1.3)
> WPIX (1)
> AP News Plus (700,000)
> Genesis Cable Storytime (650,000)
> Boresight (100,000)
> American Extasy (50,000)
> Discovery Channel (N/A)
>
> 1983 Pay Channels:
> HBO (9)
> Showtime (3.5)
> The Movie Channel (2)
> Cinemax (1.5)
> Playboy Channel (265,500)
> Home Theatre Network (155,000)
> Galavision (100,000)
> Bravo (65,750)
> The Entertainment Channel (N/A)
>
> 1986 Pay Channels:
> HBO (14.5)
> Showtime (5.4)
> Cinemax (3.3)
> The Movie Channel (3.1)
> The Disney Channel (2.1)
> Playboy Channel (740,000)
> Bravo (350,000)
> The Nostalgia Channel (350,000)
> Home Theatre Network (300,000)
> American Movie Classics (270,000)
> Galavision (125,000)
> Fantasy Unrestricted Network (50,000)
> SelecTV (N/A)
>
> Thoughts?
>

 

[shadowman]

Re: Info and schedules of some defunct channels

> > Very Interesting. It would be interesting if those
> networks
> > still existed. I was wondering if you can post schedules
> of
> > these defunct channels. I know some were posted before
> like
> > Satellite Program Network so that's not what I'm talking
> > about. I also wonder if there's more info on these
> channels
> > anywhere online?
>
> I would have to say "doubtful" on the schedules. Most of
> them had such spotty carriage (why else would they have gone
> under?) that they never qualified for inclusion in TV Guide.
> I would even go so far as to say that they likely never
> made it into most newspaper television sections.
>
> It is possible that they may have been listed in some cable
> system guides, although I can't say I believe there is a
> high probability of that either.
>
> I can tell you, from having lived at the time in the service
> area of a cable system that carried Modern Satellite
> Network, that MSN was a network that would have been best
> described as the precursor of the infomercial. All three
> hours were filled with half-hour commercial films, the
> airtime apparently paid for by the manufacturer of whatever
> product was featured. For example: The maker of a line of
> canned foods spending a half-hour showing how their product
> line could be used in recipes.
>
> I can also tell you what mergers happened, but this is
> likely old news:
> TeleFrance became nothing more than a paid block of time on
> SPN, which itself later became Tempo (TeleFrance was long
> gone by then) and then was sold to NBC just so they could
> use its satellite transponder for CNBC (which later absorbed
> Financial News Network).
> ARTS and The Entertainment Channel merged and became A&E.
> PTL became The Inspirational Network after Jim & Tammy were
> forced out, and still exists under that name.
> Daytime and Cable Health Network merged into Lifetime.
> Satellite News Channel, of course, folded before its first
> year of operation.
> Spanish International Network became Univision and (I
> believe) no longer provides programming directly to cable.

Actually, they still do provide their East and West feeds to cable companies where there is no affilliate. They now require to carry their local affilliates in most markets and when the local can provide a signal to the headend or a wired link to cable providers.

Also, DirecTV and Dish Network provide both east and west feeds on their Spanish programming tiers.

> ACSN is today's TLC. It, like Travel Channel, are part of
> Discovery, which didn't exist when either was created.
>
> The rest went under, to the best of my knowledge.
>