Back in the day, even the old basic 12-channel cable systems sometimes had trouble filling those channels. Unless you were near a metro area with a lot of stations or had a microwave link to some distant early independents (much in the way stations like WPIX-11 and WSBK-38 were carried throughout parts of New England), you were lucky to get the three commercial networks, maybe a PBS, and maybe even duplicated network affiliates from a nearby market. That left a lot of empty channels, and of course systems wanted to fill them with SOMETHING to make subscribing seem worthwhile. What are some of the oddest things that were used to fill those channels?
Myself, I remember the first CATV system we subscribed to (early 1970's). There were three of what I would call "filler' channels:
(1)The most basic and lo-tech was the time and temperature channel. This consisted of a simple wall display of a clock and a thermometer (both big round basic analog devices) at which a cheap live black and white camera (surplus from some bankrupt 7-11, no doubt) was pointed, 24 hours a day. The only excitement on this channel was when a fly entered the field of view.
(2)Another channel was an local advertisment channel that consisted of a simple slide projector hooked up to a bargain basement film chain. Local businesses would pay "enormous" sums that could run into double-digits (!!) per week to have a slide included with their name and phone number and maybe a photo of the business. Unknown if you had to provide your own slides, or if there was a crack team of graphics experts that would make them.
(3)Finally, there was indeed a public access channel, but it wasn't like later incarnations. The cable company had a couple of portable Sony reel-to-reel EIAJ black and white VTRs that they would loan out to anyone who wanted to shoot tape. And I mean to ANYONE -- there were no budding cinematic auteurs here. Much of the fare was indistinguishable from typical suburban home movies. Occasionally, something at least mildly creative might be shot by local high school students, but even most of their productions looked like a basic unedited, unplanned "hey, let's borrow a camera, have a few beers, and play TV Studio" deal. Whatever you shot, short of something illegal or immoral, it got airtime -- lots of airtime. Aunt Elsie's tape of her chihuahua doing tricks might be scheduled 3 times a day if submissions were light that week.
So, how about it -- any similarly "exciting" channels on those old cable systems?
Myself, I remember the first CATV system we subscribed to (early 1970's). There were three of what I would call "filler' channels:
(1)The most basic and lo-tech was the time and temperature channel. This consisted of a simple wall display of a clock and a thermometer (both big round basic analog devices) at which a cheap live black and white camera (surplus from some bankrupt 7-11, no doubt) was pointed, 24 hours a day. The only excitement on this channel was when a fly entered the field of view.
(2)Another channel was an local advertisment channel that consisted of a simple slide projector hooked up to a bargain basement film chain. Local businesses would pay "enormous" sums that could run into double-digits (!!) per week to have a slide included with their name and phone number and maybe a photo of the business. Unknown if you had to provide your own slides, or if there was a crack team of graphics experts that would make them.
(3)Finally, there was indeed a public access channel, but it wasn't like later incarnations. The cable company had a couple of portable Sony reel-to-reel EIAJ black and white VTRs that they would loan out to anyone who wanted to shoot tape. And I mean to ANYONE -- there were no budding cinematic auteurs here. Much of the fare was indistinguishable from typical suburban home movies. Occasionally, something at least mildly creative might be shot by local high school students, but even most of their productions looked like a basic unedited, unplanned "hey, let's borrow a camera, have a few beers, and play TV Studio" deal. Whatever you shot, short of something illegal or immoral, it got airtime -- lots of airtime. Aunt Elsie's tape of her chihuahua doing tricks might be scheduled 3 times a day if submissions were light that week.
So, how about it -- any similarly "exciting" channels on those old cable systems?
