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Earliest Cable Networks

K

KMRichards

Guest
As I indicated in a previous post, I have been going through my archives recently, and I found my complete set of the short-lived magazine Panorama, which was published by Triangle Communications (then TV Guide's publisher) from February 1980 until June 1981.

The April 1981 issue had a guide to the basic cable networks available at that time, and had a chart showing the month and year each began operation. I would consider this a definitive source as to "who was first", as has been debated here on many occasions.

I have sorted the chart by start date and added notes about current status. The three superstations are listed by the date they started satellite distribution. I added bullet formatting to (hopefully) make it easier to read.

[*]WTBS Atlanta: December 1976 (as WTCG)
[*]CBN/Christian Broadcasting Network: April 1977 (became The Family Channel, then Fox Family, now ABC Family)
[*]USA: September 1977 (as Madison Square Garden Sports Network; changed name to USA April 1980)
[*]PTL: April 1978 (now The Inspirational Network)
[*]TBN/Trinity Broadcasting Network: May 1978
[*]WGN-TV Chicago: November 1978
[*]MSN/Modern Satellite Network: January 1979 (apparently either went defunct in 1987 or was the basis for Home Shopping Network; I can't find a definitive source to confirm either)
[*]SPN/Satellite Program Network: January 1979
[*]C-SPAN/Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network: March 1979
[*]Nickelodeon: April 1979
[*]WOR-TV New York: April 1979
[*]ESPN/Entertainment and Sports Programming Network: September 1979
[*]SIN/Spanish International Network: September 1979 (now Univision)
[*]ACSN/Applachian Community Service Network: October 1979 (became The Learning Channel, now TLC)
[*]BET/Black Entertainment Television: January 1980
[*]CNN/Cable News Network: June 1980
[*]NCN/National Christian Network: June 1980 (apparently still in the radio business in Florida, but I cannot find any proof the TV network still exists)
[*]The Women's Channel: June 1980 (I cannot find any proof this network was ever actually on the air)<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
> The Women's Channel: June 1980 (I cannot find any proof this
> network was ever actually on the air)
>
Didn't that merge with Cable Health Network to form Lifetime?
 
> As I indicated in a previous post, I have been going through
> my archives recently, and I found my complete set of the
> short-lived magazine Panorama, which was published by
> Triangle Communications (then TV Guide's publisher) from
> February 1980 until June 1981.
>
> The April 1981 issue had a guide to the basic cable networks
> available at that time, and had a chart showing the month
> and year each began operation. I would consider this a
> definitive source as to "who was first", as has been debated
> here on many occasions.
>
> I have sorted the chart by start date and added notes about
> current status. The three superstations are listed by the
> date they started satellite distribution. I added bullet
> formatting to (hopefully) make it easier to read.
>
> WTBS Atlanta: December 1976 (as WTCG)
> CBN/Christian Broadcasting Network: April 1977 (became The
> Family Channel, then Fox Family, now ABC Family)
> USA: September 1977 (as Madison Square Garden Sports
> Network; changed name to USA April 1980)
> PTL: April 1978 (now The Inspirational Network)
> TBN/Trinity Broadcasting Network: May 1978
> WGN-TV Chicago: November 1978
> MSN/Modern Satellite Network: January 1979 (apparently
> either went defunct in 1987 or was the basis for Home
> Shopping Network; I can't find a definitive source to
> confirm either)
> SPN/Satellite Program Network: January 1979
> C-SPAN/Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network: March 1979
> Nickelodeon: April 1979
> WOR-TV New York: April 1979
> ESPN/Entertainment and Sports Programming Network: September
> 1979
> SIN/Spanish International Network: September 1979 (now
> Univision)
> ACSN/Applachian Community Service Network: October 1979
> (became The Learning Channel, now TLC)
> BET/Black Entertainment Television: January 1980
> CNN/Cable News Network: June 1980
> NCN/National Christian Network: June 1980 (apparently still
> in the radio business in Florida, but I cannot find any
> proof the TV network still exists)
> The Women's Channel: June 1980 (I cannot find any proof this
> network was ever actually on the air)
> I sort of recall that The Women's Channel was either a half-hour
or one-hour feature on SPN; it was a set of either slides or still
photos with background voice-overs and music highlighting women's
issues.
 
> > The Women's Channel: June 1980 (I cannot find any proof
> this
> > network was ever actually on the air)
> >
> Didn't that merge with Cable Health Network to form
> Lifetime?

No, you are thinking of Daytime (which was a different network that started in March 1982).
<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
Funny how it left out HBO, the roots of which go back to, I want to say, 1972, in its experimental stages to the Scranton-Wilkes Barre market. I remember watching it on the Ithaca, NY cable system as early as 1975.
 
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