Decatur, Alabama is situated in the midst of not one, not two, but three TV markets. Hence, we got quite a choice. As I recall from the TeleCable franchise system:
(2) unknown (became HBO circa 1977)
(3) WMSL-TV (now WAFF), ch. 48, ABC (now NBC), Huntsville
(4) WSM-TV (now WSMV), ch. 4, NBC, Nashville
(5) WLAC-TV (now WTVF), ch. 5, CBS, Nashville
(6) WBRC-TV, ch. 6, ABC (now FOX), Birmingham
(7) unknown (became WTCG, ch. 17, Atlanta, circa 1976)
(8) WSIX-TV (now WKRN), ch. 8 (later ch. 2), ABC, Nashville
(9) WAAY-TV, ch. 31, NBC (now ABC), Huntsville
(10) WHNT-TV, ch. 19, CBS, Huntsville
(11) Decatur City Schools in-school programming during school day; rotary weather displays at other times
(12) WHIQ-TV, ch. 25, PBS (Alabama Public Television translator), Huntsville
(13) WAPI-TV (now WVTM), ch. 13, NBC, Birmingham
Of course, all that remains on the successor system (Charter) are the Huntsville network affils, but it is highly interesting to note that none of the channel positions have moved on any of them from that day since. Cable companies are (or were) highly reluctant to relocate the OTA stations, fearing a customer backlash.
One will notice that we received three stations apiece of ABC and NBC and two for CBS. The only thing missing was Birmingham's CBS affil, the weak-signaled UHF WBMG (now WIAT), on channel 42. However, I remember reading that nearby Hartselle, Alabama, some 15 miles to our south, carried it on its cable system, perhaps from a relay somewhere in Cullman or Blount counties (read your Alabama maps). TeleCable probably just didn't bother, since there were already two CBS channels (WLAC and WHNT).
I have no idea how the Nashville stations got there, as Nashville is a good 100 miles due north, well out of range for direct reception. I suspect relays were the solution there, probably located somewhere in southern Middle Tennessee, where the signals were microwaved to Decatur, Athens, Huntsville, and maybe Florence/the Shoals area (Huntsville even had at least one Chattanooga station on its lineup in the early 1970s). My father, a huge country music fan, in particular enjoyed WSM and the early morning Ralph Emery show.
Since WTCG was already penetrating much of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee via microwave relays, I suspect it came to Decatur some months before the satellite launch in late 1976.
I suspect there has been a post or thread about this before, but does anyone remember the old rotary mirror-camera machines that produced a black-and-white rotating display of weather instruments? I'm sure that was a fixture of smaller (and perhaps bigger) cable systems prior to the Weather Channel's 1982 debut (and the availability of local radar, on some systems). My father was good friends with the manager of TeleCable and once took me to the office to have him show me the equipment, and I recall being fascinated beyond belief at the device. At that time, those mirrors had to be the smallest video cameras that were available anywhere.
