Local Pay Cable Networks

[mikebatchelor]

I just watched a very interesting documentary about the rise and fall of LA's "Z Channel" pay cable TV network of the 70s and 80s, and its eclectic programming cheif Jerry Harvey. Its definately worth checking out if you are interested in the history of Cable TV, or independent films, even if you didn't experience the channel.

This got me to thinking, how many other local pay cable channels were there during the 70s & 80s? Which was the last to go?

 

[dampier]

> I just watched a very interesting documentary about the rise
> and fall of LA's "Z Channel" pay cable TV network of the 70s
> and 80s, and its eclectic programming cheif Jerry Harvey.
> Its definately worth checking out if you are interested in
> the history of Cable TV, or independent films, even if you
> didn't experience the channel.

Actually it was more common to see pay over the air broadcast channels in the 70s and early 80s. I remember on a trip to Boston in the late 70s or very early 80s that I encountered one of those - on UHF I think. I suspect in almost all cases, you had to be major market to pull this kind of thing off.

Here in Rochester, our suburban cable operator, the :Communist: People's Cable, in one of its five year plans handed down from the presidium, would never have managed such a thing. It was a big deal when Cinemax arrived (with Robert Kulp! doing what AMC does/did before movies started).

More common were localized home shopping channels. Well before the onslaught of ShopNBC and HSC and all the rest was Greater Rochester Cablevision's "Value Channel 5." Local people would sell the usual fare, local operators would process the orders, and there were one of two local locations where you would go and pick up your stuff - no shipping necessary. The least value they offered was to their employees, who were all fired Christmas Eve a year or two after it started. Merry Christmas!

Now it's a sea of PPV, which is as local as it gets.

 

[ShawnHill]

> I just watched a very interesting documentary about the rise
> and fall of LA's "Z Channel" pay cable TV network of the 70s
> and 80s, and its eclectic programming cheif Jerry Harvey.
> Its definately worth checking out if you are interested in
> the history of Cable TV, or independent films, even if you
> didn't experience the channel.
>
> This got me to thinking, how many other local pay cable
> channels were there during the 70s & 80s? Which was the
> last to go?
>
I saw that movie on IFC about a month and a half ago...very interesting indeed. At that time, L.A. not had Z-Channel, but also ON-TV and SelecTV before they merged. Of course, Z was bought out and became SportsChannel Los Angeles (and was still a pay channel until its last days in 1993). In fact, SCLA would stayed on the air longer (at the time, they had the broadcast rights to the Clippers and Dodgers, as well as some Angels games), it would become what's now Fox Sports Net West 2.

 

[Eden_Crush]

> > I just watched a very interesting documentary about the
> rise
> > and fall of LA's "Z Channel" pay cable TV network of the
> 70s
> > and 80s, and its eclectic programming cheif Jerry Harvey.
>
> > Its definately worth checking out if you are interested in
>
> > the history of Cable TV, or independent films, even if you
>
> > didn't experience the channel.
>
> Actually it was more common to see pay over the air
> broadcast channels in the 70s and early 80s. I remember on
> a trip to Boston in the late 70s or very early 80s that I
> encountered one of those - on UHF I think. I suspect in
> almost all cases, you had to be major market to pull this
> kind of thing off.
>
> Here in Rochester, our suburban cable operator, the
> :Communist: People's Cable, in one of its five year plans
> handed down from the presidium, would never have managed
> such a thing. It was a big deal when Cinemax arrived (with
> Robert Kulp! doing what AMC does/did before movies started).
>
>
> More common were localized home shopping channels. Well
> before the onslaught of ShopNBC and HSC and all the rest was
> Greater Rochester Cablevision's "Value Channel 5." Local
> people would sell the usual fare, local operators would
> process the orders, and there were one of two local
> locations where you would go and pick up your stuff - no
> shipping necessary. The least value they offered was to
> their employees, who were all fired Christmas Eve a year or
> two after it started. Merry Christmas!
>
> Now it's a sea of PPV, which is as local as it gets.
>

In my area, there was PRISM. That channel carried hit movies, concerts,
and many home games of the Phillies, Flyers, and 76ers. That channel started
in the mid-70's and lasted well into the 90's. In the late 90's, however,
PRISM was dissolved into the current Comcast SportsNet, and the national pay-TV
service Starz! replaced it on many of the Philly cable systems.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Boston over-the-air STV back in the day

> Actually it was more common to see pay over the air
> broadcast channels in the 70s and early 80s. I remember on
> a trip to Boston in the late 70s or very early 80s that I
> encountered one of those - on UHF I think.

Starting around 1979 - TV68 in Boston came on the air as Starcase - an over-the-air STV (scrambled) pay TV service. They had a small studio somewhere on Commonwealth Ave. The only uncut movie service in Boston before that was HBO - a single channel back then - available by microwave signal from the Prudential building (line of sight coverage only).

Starting in 1980 TV27 Worcester, MA (an indie at the time) began running Preview (then owned by ATC/Time-Life)- a similar service - at night. I worked some sales for the Preview launch. ( $19.50 per month)

Around 1984, Preview absorbed Starcase, then cable penetration in the Boston area had come up to a point where it was no longer profitable.(approx. 1985) Both services used a small beam antenna resonant on their respective UHF channels, with a small mast-mounted preamp to goose up the signal, as required.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Boston over-the-air STV back in the day

> Starting around 1979 - TV68 in Boston came on the air as
> Starcase - an over-the-air STV (scrambled) pay TV service.

Originally (for a brief time), the service was called BEST--for Broadcast Entertainment Subscription Television.

> They had a small studio somewhere on Commonwealth Ave.

390 Commonwealth Avenue. The station aired some "unscrambled" programming during the daytime hours up to 7 P.M. (Starcase started earlier on weekends), and the station, then WQTV, actually did a few local programs "in the clear". WQTV also carried some daytime programming fron the old Financial News Network (FNN) when it began; I think this continued until a couple of years after the station lost pay-TV and became a full-fledged independent station.

> The only uncut movie service in Boston before that was HBO - a
> single channel back then - available by microwave signal
> from the Prudential building (line of sight coverage only).

In the early seventies, cable-TV came to the Malden, Woburn and Revere areas (three suburbs just north of Boston). I suspect HBO was on at least a couple of those cable systems by the late 1970's.

> Starting in 1980 TV27 Worcester, MA (an indie at the time)
> began running Preview (then owned by ATC/Time-Life)- a
> similar service - at night. I worked some sales for the
> Preview launch. ( $19.50 per month)

> Around 1984, Preview absorbed Starcase, then cable
> penetration in the Boston area had come up to a point where
> it was no longer profitable (approx. 1985).

I'm sure Starcase bellied-up in 1983. WQTV became a full-fledged indie that year, buying a lot of syndicated programming. I believe Preview went off the air at the end of 1985.