Alaska cable TV was so interesting back in the day. Lots of tape delays, random cable networks, and a few network affiliates, if they could pull them in. Here's the cable lineup from the capital of Alaska, as of May 6th, 1983. Notice *a lot* of shared channels here.
2 Message Scanner / State Programming with audio from KJNO Radio. (State Programming: Alaska legislature coverage. Also airs Capital '83 at 6:30PM Mon-Fri, CBS Evening News daily at 7PM, and the Alaska Statewide News, via KTUU Anchorage, at 7:30PM)
3 TBN
4 WTBS
5 HBO
6 KTOO Juneau (PBS)
7 ESPN
8 Nickelodeon/ARTS
9 WOR New York (IND)
10 WGN Chicago (IND)
11 KJUD Juneau (CBS/NBC/ABC, sign on 11AM, sign off midnight) other times this was C-SPAN
12 Tape-delayed Seattle programming, with Good Morning America 7-9am weekdays
13 CNN
16 LearnAlaska
17 MTV
18 CNN-2
20 USA Network
21 EWTN
22 CBN
24 Showtime
25 Playboy (marked "Playtime" in the listing...pretty sure that was wrong)
And there you have it. The three major networks were all on one station - and only selected programming. Other programming available from Seattle stations. AT&T (or another company) must have had an office in Seattle where hours of Seattle TV programming were recorded onto videotape and then shipped overnight to Juneau with 1-5 day delays, similar to the Guam set-up with Los Angeles videotapes flown across the ocean. Denver satellite feeds on Satcom F1 changed everything later in the '80s.
2 Message Scanner / State Programming with audio from KJNO Radio. (State Programming: Alaska legislature coverage. Also airs Capital '83 at 6:30PM Mon-Fri, CBS Evening News daily at 7PM, and the Alaska Statewide News, via KTUU Anchorage, at 7:30PM)
3 TBN
4 WTBS
5 HBO
6 KTOO Juneau (PBS)
7 ESPN
8 Nickelodeon/ARTS
9 WOR New York (IND)
10 WGN Chicago (IND)
11 KJUD Juneau (CBS/NBC/ABC, sign on 11AM, sign off midnight) other times this was C-SPAN
12 Tape-delayed Seattle programming, with Good Morning America 7-9am weekdays
13 CNN
16 LearnAlaska
17 MTV
18 CNN-2
20 USA Network
21 EWTN
22 CBN
24 Showtime
25 Playboy (marked "Playtime" in the listing...pretty sure that was wrong)
And there you have it. The three major networks were all on one station - and only selected programming. Other programming available from Seattle stations. AT&T (or another company) must have had an office in Seattle where hours of Seattle TV programming were recorded onto videotape and then shipped overnight to Juneau with 1-5 day delays, similar to the Guam set-up with Los Angeles videotapes flown across the ocean. Denver satellite feeds on Satcom F1 changed everything later in the '80s.