A bit off the timeline here, but from 1955 to 1962, the cable system in Key West, Florida offered channel 6 CMQ-TV Havana. It was not taken off the system due to political pressure or the coming arrival of WCIX in Homestead. Rather, the stacked channel 6 yagis blew down in a storm and that was that. I am told that reception (it was almost a 100 mile water hop) was often marred by severe co-channel interfearence from WDBO-TV in Orlando and WDSU-TV in New Orleans, when the famous gulf tropo reached down to 82 MHz.
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EXTRA STATIONS RECEIVED WITH EARLY 70'S BASIC CABLE
- Thread starter gregg75
- Start date
DelusionOfGrandeur said:
Wish that kind of thing happened on the Cleveland-based Time Warner system that serves here, though I suspect the Youngstown stations don't reach the local headend despite Time Warner's inter-system connectivity.
The only thing I can get on QAM that isn't on regular analog or digital cable is educational access from the city of Cleveland and one of the universities there.
As for out-of-market stations, the old United Cable of New Britain, CT (also served Hartford on a separate branch) carried WWOR-TV channel 9 from Secaucus, NJ/New York City, WPIX-TV channel 11 from New York City and WSBK-TV channel 38 from Boston into the early 1990s. At one time, they also carried then WNEW-TV channel 5 from New York City. United Artists Cable dropped WPIX-TV on July 1, 1990 due to the Syndex laws. They replaced them with in-market WTWS-TV channel 26 of New London. Yes, WTWS-TV, which had signed on in September of 1986, wasn't even on cable in the center of their own market until 1990 (New London was and is a portion of the Hartford/New Haven DMA).
In 2012, the only out-of-market station which Comcast carries in New Britain, CT is WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 of Springfield, MA. Even without a converter, I receive the following:
WGBY-TV 57-1 (PBS) in HD [we used to get this in SD only]
WGBY-TV 57-2 (World) in SD
WGBY-TV 57-3 (PBS Kids) in SD
WGBY-TV 57-4 (Create) in SD
In 2012, the only out-of-market station which Comcast carries in New Britain, CT is WGBY-TV (PBS) channel 57 of Springfield, MA. Even without a converter, I receive the following:
WGBY-TV 57-1 (PBS) in HD [we used to get this in SD only]
WGBY-TV 57-2 (World) in SD
WGBY-TV 57-3 (PBS Kids) in SD
WGBY-TV 57-4 (Create) in SD
KML-224 said:
On the Cleveland end of the massive Time Warner Cable Northeast Ohio system, PBS affiliate WEAO/49 Akron ("Western Reserve PBS") is only carried in SD, on analog 9. Its subchannels are available, both on a digital cable box and via QAM.
HD PBS is provided by Cleveland's WVIZ/25, and its HD feed and all subchannels are on the entire TWC system.
Western Reserve PBS' other station, WNEO/45 Alliance, acts as the primary PBS affiliate in the nearby Youngstown market, and thus, gets that primary carriage on Time Warner's Mahoning Valley systems.
Lodi, California lineup circa late 70s. Lodi Cable Co. (eventually to become Comcast)
2 - KTVU ch. 2 Oakland Ind. (later Fox)
3 - KCRA ch. 3 Sacramento NBC
4 - KRON ch. 4 San Fran NBC and KBHK ch. 44 San Fran Ind.
5 - KPIX ch. 5 San Fran CBS (later dropped for ESPN)
6 - KVIE ch. 6 Sacramento PBS
7 - KGO ch. 7 San Fran ABC
8 - KTXL ch. 40 Sacramento Ind. (later Fox)
9 - KXTV ch. 10 Sacramento CBS (later ABC)
10 - KSCO ch. 19 Modesto SIN
11 - KGSC ch. 36 San Jose Ind.
12 - KOVR ch. 13 Sacramento ABC (later CBS)
13 - Public Access/CBN
Premium channels like Showtime and HBO were accessed by having a box hooked up to the TV and turning the switch from TV to Premium while on channel 3 (HBO) or 4 (Showtime). It wasn't until around 1983 when they expanded beyond channel 13 when the premiums were assigned regular channels (HBO, Showtime, Disney, and Cinemax) and they started adding early cable channels like CNN, MTV, TNN, and USA.
2 - KTVU ch. 2 Oakland Ind. (later Fox)
3 - KCRA ch. 3 Sacramento NBC
4 - KRON ch. 4 San Fran NBC and KBHK ch. 44 San Fran Ind.
5 - KPIX ch. 5 San Fran CBS (later dropped for ESPN)
6 - KVIE ch. 6 Sacramento PBS
7 - KGO ch. 7 San Fran ABC
8 - KTXL ch. 40 Sacramento Ind. (later Fox)
9 - KXTV ch. 10 Sacramento CBS (later ABC)
10 - KSCO ch. 19 Modesto SIN
11 - KGSC ch. 36 San Jose Ind.
12 - KOVR ch. 13 Sacramento ABC (later CBS)
13 - Public Access/CBN
Premium channels like Showtime and HBO were accessed by having a box hooked up to the TV and turning the switch from TV to Premium while on channel 3 (HBO) or 4 (Showtime). It wasn't until around 1983 when they expanded beyond channel 13 when the premiums were assigned regular channels (HBO, Showtime, Disney, and Cinemax) and they started adding early cable channels like CNN, MTV, TNN, and USA.
WGU20 said:
That makes me wonder if anyone from roughly Vero Beach south has ever picked up ZNS/13 Nassau either off-air or on cable. I've never picked it up in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and wonder if its signal can skip across 50 miles of water, or if any cable operator ever bothered with it.
Another thing: wasn't the initial call letter C assigned to both Canada and Cuba? I keep thinking Canada's is CA-CL; Cuba's is CM-CZ.
bpatrick said:
Canada is CF-CK, CY, and CZ, as well as some in the V and X sequences. Cuba is CL, CM, CO, and T4. Eleven other countries and the World Meteorological Organization share the rest of the C block.
More often than not, an initial letter is split among several countries. The U.S. having exclusive use of K, N, and W is relatively unusual. Cases where an initial letter *does* go exclusively to one country:
B, G, M, 2: U.K.
F: France
I: Italy
K, N, W: USA
R: Russia
bpatrick said:
Canada never had CB officially, it's always belonged to Chile. Apparently they had some kind of arrangement with Chile -- certainly there's not much chance of anyone mistaking a CBC station (either official language) for a Chilean station or vice-versa. In any case, call letters are MUCH less important for broadcasters in most other countries.
I've been on the info boards for quite a while now, but only recently started exploring this particular board. It's quickly becoming one of my favorites.
I wasn't going to resurrect this thread, until I saw the post about the Elmira cable system. I grew up in Bath, NY in the 1980s. Here is the lineup offered to subscribers of Bath Television and Service Co-op Inc. at that time.
2. WENY, Elmira (ABC)
3. WETM Elmira (NBC)
4. WIVB Buffalo (CBS)
5. WPIX New York (Ind)
6. WOR New York (Ind)
7. WKBW Buffalo (ABC)
8. WROC Rochester (NBC)
9. WSKG Binghamton (PBS)
(The signal was actually taken from a local translator, W60AD) Before that, the company attempted to receive NET/PBS programming from WXXI in Rochester, but reception was always problematic.
10. WHEC Rochester (CBS)
11. ESPN
12. WNEW New York (Ind)
13. CNN
In addition, one could also pay extra for HBO. In that case, you were issued a special set top box with push buttons for channels 14 to 22. HBO was on 22, while all other channels were blank. Clearly, they had plans for expanded offerings, eventually. Later, Cinemax appeard on channel 21, and The Disney Channel on 20. The rest of the slots would remain empty until 1988 when they were filled with the following:
14. MTV
15. WTBS
16. TNN
17. WGN
18. USA Network
19. Public Access (with audio from the local radio station, WVIN)
This was the second attempt by Bath TV to put TNN on the system. In 1986, they removed WIVB from the lineup, citing OTA reception issues. TNN was its replacement. There was such an outcry over this change, however, that WIVB was put back on the system after a very short time. Eventually, though, WIVB was taken off the system in the early 90s, and replaced by the CBN Family Channel. Again, there were protests, but the management at Bath TV made it quite clear that they were standing firm this time around.
As time passed, other out-of-market network affiliates would be dropped to make room for more cable offerings. This continued right up until Bath TV sold out to Time Warner in 2004. They were the last system in the area to sell out, I believe.
I'm always looking to learn more about local broadcast history. I am extremely curious as to what the cable lineup in Bath, NY looked like before 1980 (which I am assuming was the year both ESPN and CNN were added). What stations were sacrificed to make room for these new offerings? I was told by a relative several years ago that WOKR (13, Rochester, ABC) was carried in Bath at one point, but I never got confirmation of this.
If anyone has any ideas as to where I could find an old channel guide/listing for this system, please post your suggestions here.
I wasn't going to resurrect this thread, until I saw the post about the Elmira cable system. I grew up in Bath, NY in the 1980s. Here is the lineup offered to subscribers of Bath Television and Service Co-op Inc. at that time.
2. WENY, Elmira (ABC)
3. WETM Elmira (NBC)
4. WIVB Buffalo (CBS)
5. WPIX New York (Ind)
6. WOR New York (Ind)
7. WKBW Buffalo (ABC)
8. WROC Rochester (NBC)
9. WSKG Binghamton (PBS)
(The signal was actually taken from a local translator, W60AD) Before that, the company attempted to receive NET/PBS programming from WXXI in Rochester, but reception was always problematic.
10. WHEC Rochester (CBS)
11. ESPN
12. WNEW New York (Ind)
13. CNN
In addition, one could also pay extra for HBO. In that case, you were issued a special set top box with push buttons for channels 14 to 22. HBO was on 22, while all other channels were blank. Clearly, they had plans for expanded offerings, eventually. Later, Cinemax appeard on channel 21, and The Disney Channel on 20. The rest of the slots would remain empty until 1988 when they were filled with the following:
14. MTV
15. WTBS
16. TNN
17. WGN
18. USA Network
19. Public Access (with audio from the local radio station, WVIN)
This was the second attempt by Bath TV to put TNN on the system. In 1986, they removed WIVB from the lineup, citing OTA reception issues. TNN was its replacement. There was such an outcry over this change, however, that WIVB was put back on the system after a very short time. Eventually, though, WIVB was taken off the system in the early 90s, and replaced by the CBN Family Channel. Again, there were protests, but the management at Bath TV made it quite clear that they were standing firm this time around.
As time passed, other out-of-market network affiliates would be dropped to make room for more cable offerings. This continued right up until Bath TV sold out to Time Warner in 2004. They were the last system in the area to sell out, I believe.
I'm always looking to learn more about local broadcast history. I am extremely curious as to what the cable lineup in Bath, NY looked like before 1980 (which I am assuming was the year both ESPN and CNN were added). What stations were sacrificed to make room for these new offerings? I was told by a relative several years ago that WOKR (13, Rochester, ABC) was carried in Bath at one point, but I never got confirmation of this.
If anyone has any ideas as to where I could find an old channel guide/listing for this system, please post your suggestions here.
visaman said:
Here are the lists of all of the CBC's assets, including lists of the "CB" stations (excluding repeaters):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation
w9wi said:
If you've ever seen actual broadcast callsigns from Chile, they don't resemble CBC's callsigns at all. Chile uses CB + numbers, such as CB12. A number of South American countries use this format, or three letters plus three numbers.
Oak Ridge, TN circa 1977:
Channel 2: WSJK-TV Sneedville, TN PBS
Channel 3: WRCB-TV Chattanooga, TN NBC
Channel 4: Home Box Office
Channel 5: WLOS-TV Asheville, NC ABC
Channel 6: WATE TV NBC
Channel 7: WTCG TV Atlanta, GA Independent
Channel 8: Public Access
Channel 9 WTVC-TV Chattanooga, TN
Channel 10 WBIR-TV CBS Knoxville, TN
Channel 11: WTVK-TV Knoxville, TN ABC
Channel 12: WDEF-TV Chattanooga, TN
Cable System was Oak Ridge Cablevision (now Comcast)
Channel 2: WSJK-TV Sneedville, TN PBS
Channel 3: WRCB-TV Chattanooga, TN NBC
Channel 4: Home Box Office
Channel 5: WLOS-TV Asheville, NC ABC
Channel 6: WATE TV NBC
Channel 7: WTCG TV Atlanta, GA Independent
Channel 8: Public Access
Channel 9 WTVC-TV Chattanooga, TN
Channel 10 WBIR-TV CBS Knoxville, TN
Channel 11: WTVK-TV Knoxville, TN ABC
Channel 12: WDEF-TV Chattanooga, TN
Cable System was Oak Ridge Cablevision (now Comcast)
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