Simple Cable TV Question :)

[LKellerIII]

I grew up in Tujunga, a suburb of Los Angeles, near Glendale in the 50s and 60s. Pre-cable, with a roof-top antenna, we could only get 4 of the 7 local stations without ghosts and static. San Diego stations actually came in clearer, depending on atmospheric conditions.

"Seven Hills Cable" was established about 1965 to service a new housing subdivision (Seven Hills Ranch) that couldn't get any reception at all. Other townsfolk were allowed to sign up about a year later. Since our TV (a 1956 RCA model) didn't have a UHF tuner, it was our first experience with UHF stations. My father used to call KCET (Channel 28) "Channel 6" and it used to drive me crazy for some reason. Here's the line-up that I can recall

2- KNXT (CBS)
3 - KMEX (Spanish language Ch 36, I think)
4 - KNBC
5 - KTLA
6 - KCET (NET - Channel 28)
7- KABC-TV (ABC)
8 - UHF station -can't remember
9 - KHJ-TV (indy)
10 - UHF station - can't remember
11 - KTTV (indy)
12 - can't remember
13 - KCOP (indy)

 

[KML0224]

Ha! Sounds like when my sister would call WTIC-TV (FOX) here in greater Hartford "channel 6". WTIC has been on analog cable channel 6 here for many years, but never once on air did they call themselves "FOX 6". The closest they've gotten to that was a tag at the end of a couple of radio ads where announcer Peter Drew would say "...cable channel 6 on most systems." They were actually analog channel 61 and barely use "61" on air anymore. Sometimes, their legal ID on the hour will say "WTIC-DT channel 31 Hartford/New Haven", but the script is really tiny.

Presently, the only blatant cable channel abuser here in Hartford/New Haven would be WCTX-DT (MY) of New Haven. They call themselves "MY-9", since many cable providers placed them on analog cable channel 9. Officially, they were channel 59 analog and are channel 39 in digital.

 

[cwf1701]

our city got cable in 1980-81. they was still building the system when our neighborhood got cable. i cant remember all the channels we got at the time. but what we got at the time we got it includes:

2-WJBK (CBS now FOX)
4 WDIV (NBC)
7 WXYZ (ABC)
9 CBET (CBC)
20 WXON (WMYD) (ind, later WB and MYN)
32 CICO (TV Ontario)
50 WKBD (ind later FOX, UPN, and CW)
56 WTVS (PBS)
62 WGPR (WWJ(II)) (ind later CBS)
78 CBEFT (CBC-French later 54-CBEFT)
9 WOR-New York
17 WTVS-Atlanta

of course, this was the time most cable channels would double up on a channel. anyone remember the combinations that used to be on some channels? or when cable companies would put the channel listings on the remotes?

 

[mbclev]

In Solon, OH, where I live, cable TV came in about 1984-85, when a company called Matrix Cablevision arrived. Though it served Bedford Heights, Glenwillow, and Oakwood, as well as Solon, its headquarters were in Maple Heights (in what was then Viacom Cable territory) in the Southgate shopping center. Matrix ran into problems sometime later, and the cable company names in Solon then were: First Carolina Cable, Cablevision, Adelphia, and since August 2006, Time Warner Cable.

 

[1st of 5]

Cable first came to San Antonio in 1979. It was Rogers Cable, with about 30 channels, including the 4 locals. I don't recall the exact channel numbers but the only available package included, WTBS, WOR, WGN, USA, HBO, Showtime (when they used to sign on at 4PM CDT and sign off around 4AM CDT), Nickelodeon (I think it was called Pinwheel at the time), some community access channels, locals: KENS, KMOL, KSAT, KWEX, KLRN. I don't remember the rest of them, since I left for the service shortly thereafter.

 

[newsmark]

In Denison, Texas, we had cable before 1970. With only one channel (KXII) available over the air without a large antenna, it was very popular.

2-WFAA 8 ABC Dallas-Fort Worth
3-KXII 12 NBC/CBS Ardmore (OK)/Sherman/Denison
4-KRLD 4 CBS Dallas-Fort Worth
5-WBAP 5 NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
6-KTVT 11 (Ind) Dallas-Fort Worth

By 1972, the system upgraded to offer 12 channels. The school district started running 3 channels of instructional programming (ITV) for classrooms.

2-ITV
3-KXII 12 CBS/NBC Ardmore (OK)/Sherman/Denison
4-KDFW 4 CBS Dallas-Fort Worth
5-WXAS 5 NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
6-Local Weather dials, music from KOAX Dallas (easy listening)
7- *
8-WFAA 8 ABC Dallas-Fort Worth
9-KDTV 39 (Ind) Dallas-Fort Worth
10-ETV
11-KTVT 11 (Ind) Dallas-Fort Worth
12-ETV
13-KERA

*7 was black most of the time. Occasionally the cable company would try to pick up KLTV 7 from Tyler for a Dallas Cowboys game, either on 7 or on 2. For a while, music from KIKM (pop) in Sherman was on this channel, and for a couple of years, KAUZ 6 (CBS) from Wichita Falls had a snowy signal here, again for Cowboys games. This happened at about the same time KXII became CBS primary, so we would often have 3 CBS signals.