SUBSCRIPTION TV: ON-TV, SPECTRUM, PREVUE, etc...

[Jeff_Davis]

I love going to You Tube and seeing all of the old subscription TV videos.

In Cincinnati we had ON-TV every evening on WBTI-TV 64. They signed on in 1980, and by late 1982, WBTI was reduced to four hours per day with ON-TV running most of the other hours. By 1985, WBTI had become WIII-TV "The EYES of Cincinnati" and ON-TV slowly faded away. When Cincinnati finally got cable, ON-TV was obsolete.

Anybody have any tapes of Cincinnati's old WBTI or ON-TV? I would love to see those on You Tube or elsewhere. Most of the videos on You Tube are from Chicago and other markets. Pretty fun stuff to watch!

What are the chances that some of the digital multi-cast channels become subscription? Could we see the return of ON-TV or SportsVision?

 

[jvparent]

I actually had subscriptions to THREE OTA-pay TV services at various times: StarCase (from WQTV Boston), Preview (from WSMW Worcester, MA) and SelecTv (from KWHY Los Angeles). I was in the range of Wometco Home Theatre, from Channels 67 and 68 in NYC/Long Island, but never subscribed.

They all had some things in common: pretty average movie fare; the occasional periphery sporting event; and late night soft-core (hard-bore) movies. SelecTv did have some pretty solid movies in the mid-80s; by the end it wasn't worth having that massive converter box in my apartment.

 

[compubit]

After our family moved to Dallas in 1979, 3 new stations came on the air in ~1980/81:
KTXA/21, KTWS/27, and KNBN/33 - all three carried OTA Movie Channels: OnTV (21/27), VEU (33) and Preview (27).

So for a while, there were 3 OTA services in D/FW for a while...

 

[dhett]

What are the chances that some of the digital multi-cast channels become subscription? Could we see the return of ON-TV or SportsVision?

At this point, I don't see it happening. The FCC mandates that the primary subchannel must be used for free OTA service, leaving subchannels available for subscription services. For subscription TV to sell, it would have to be HDTV, so in order to do subscription now, the primary channel would have to be SDTV, with an HDTV subchannel. The networks are all touting their HDTV, so those channels are out. The two English-language networks that broadcast in SDTV, TBN and ION, already fill their channels with multicast fare. In most markets, that accounts for all of the full-power stations already. I suppose an LPTV station could try it, but being range-limited as they are, I doubt that there would enough customers within range of the signal to be viable. The new .2 Network is claiming that they can provide a 720P signal on a subchannel even if the primary channel is HD; we'll see.

There are other issues with OTA TV. Interference, especially in the larger cities, is an problem. The signal isn't available everywhere within the predicted coverage, for a variety of reasons. (Terrain, tall buildings, etc.) Weather can disrupt the signal; we had a few problems in Phoenix last night when some heavy thunderstorms rolled through. Ice and lightning have been known to damage antennas; the list goes on.

An earlier poster mentioned a so-so lineup with services in the late 70s/early 80s. I think that would be even more of a problem today, as there are more movie providers on cable/satellite already under contract, and if the .2 Network gets off the ground, then you have a free OTA service competing as well. The only reason subscription TV sold then is because cable TV wasn't widely available and satellite TV was just a dream.

The pool of potential subscribers to an OTA service is very small. In most places, no more than 20% of households are OTA-only. And people who are OTA-only are usually those who a) can't afford cable, and so can't afford a subscription service, or b) don't want anything more than basic TV and won't subscribe.

I think that if TV stations do go into subscription-based services, it will be data-based services, not video-based.

 

[KeithE4]

After our family moved to Dallas in 1979, 3 new stations came on the air in ~1980/81:
KTXA/21, KTWS/27, and KNBN/33 - all three carried OTA Movie Channels: OnTV (21/27), VEU (33) and Preview (27).

So for a while, there were 3 OTA services in D/FW for a while...

Chicago had 2 movie channels and one sports channel - ON-TV (1980-85) on WSNS/44, Spectrum (1981-84) on WFBN/66 and SportsVision (1982-84) on WPWR-WBBS/60. SportsVision ran on ON-TV in 1984-85 before going cable-only.

If you lived in the far-northern suburbs (Lake & McHenry Counties), it was also possible to pick up Spectrum on WCGV/24 Milwaukee.

 

[azumanga]

What are the chances that some of the digital multi-cast channels become subscription? Could we see the return of ON-TV or SportsVision?

At this point, I don't see it happening. The FCC mandates that the primary subchannel must be used for free OTA service, leaving subchannels available for subscription services.

There are other issues with OTA TV. Interference, especially in the larger cities, is an problem. The signal isn't available everywhere within the predicted coverage, for a variety of reasons. (Terrain, tall buildings, etc.) Weather can disrupt the signal; we had a few problems in Phoenix last night when some heavy thunderstorms rolled through. Ice and lightning have been known to damage antennas; the list goes on.

I think that if TV stations do go into subscription-based services, it will be data-based services, not video-based.

The only thing close to subscription TV via digital terrestrial was USDTV, which was available in selected cities, using the subchannels of some digital TV stations (generally low-rent stations), and the channels offered here are the same ones offered on cable, but in a very limited selection.

The first USDTV system was turned on in Utah in 2004, but the company folded in 2007, after only getting 14,000 subscribers.

 

[radiorob2.0]

After our family moved to Dallas in 1979, 3 new stations came on the air in ~1980/81:
KTXA/21, KTWS/27, and KNBN/33 - all three carried OTA Movie Channels: OnTV (21/27), VEU (33) and Preview (27).

So for a while, there were 3 OTA services in D/FW for a while...

Chicago had 2 movie channels and one sports channel - ON-TV (1980-85) on WSNS/44, Spectrum (1981-84) on WFBN/66 and SportsVision (1982-84) on WPWR-WBBS/60. SportsVision ran on ON-TV in 1984-85 before going cable-only.

If you lived in the far-northern suburbs (Lake & McHenry Counties), it was also possible to pick up Spectrum on WCGV/24 Milwaukee.

Didn't WLS-TV attempt an overnight subscription service? IT seems I read that somewhere on the tubes of the internets.

 

[KeithE4]

Didn't WLS-TV attempt an overnight subscription service? IT seems I read that somewhere on the tubes of the internets.

I'd forgotten about that one. Telefirst was a 1983 attempt to download scrambled movies to a VCR, then the VCR would be plugged into a decoder box so they could be viewed. It was a feeble attempt to offer movies cheaper than rentals, which were in the $15 per week range (no overnight or 3-day rentals back then). Running overnights on WLS-TV, it lasted about three months.

Link: ChicagoTelevision.com - Telefirst

Chicago also had the first Pay-TV service, Zenith's PhoneVision, from 1951 to '53 on KS2XBS (the successor to pre-war W9XZV), the original occupier of Channel 2. After it was kicked off the air to make way for WBBM-TV, the system was tried in New York on WOR-TV in 1954, Hartford on WHCT-TV in the '70s, and on a Michigan cable system in 1986. None of those attempts were successful.

Link: ChicagoTelevision.com - PhoneVision

 

[zman]

I love going to You Tube and seeing all of the old subscription TV videos.

I enjoy that as well. I especially like watching the transitions from commercial mode to scrambled mode. The one I have not found is the one for Sportsvision Chicago. The one in English from wpwr tv 60. I also remember there being one in Spanish when WBBS would go to Sportsvision. I have not been able to find those on youtube. I've found the transitions for ON Tv Chicago and Spectrum but no luck finding Sportsvision Chicago. Anyone have a link to that one?

I grew up near La Salle Illinois and could sometimes pull in all three Chicago UHF pay stations and would try to catch the transitions.

 

[Ultimajock]

If you lived in the far-northern suburbs [of Chicago] (Lake & McHenry Counties), it was also possible to pick up Spectrum on WCGV/24 Milwaukee.

...are you sure the WCGV pay service wasn't actually SelecTV rather than Spectrum?...

 

[Markxxx]

Part of the fear of some people is HDTV will become pay TV. The FCC says one of the channels must be free. So let's say WLS, makes its standard definition free to OTA and cable (dish) but scrambles it's HDTV and charges the OTA customer and cable (dish) for it.

It could happen.

 

[azumanga]

Personally, if the HDTV feed carries the exact same programming as the standard definition version, I don't think the station would get away with (or be allowed to) charging extra for a wider screen and better picture quality. And a few years down the road, chances are the HDTV feed would be the ONLY feed, as more people buy digital sets and devices.

 

[Jeff_Davis]

In watching the Chicago ON-TV and Spectrum videos on You Tube, I find it interesting that here in Cincinnati, we had ON-TV with the same logo and similar animation, yet the presentation was EXACTLY the same as Spectrum.  The "long Spectrum sign on" video shows a montage of that month's movies, plus a schedule for that evening before channel 66 went into scrambled mode.  ON-TV here in Cincinnati did the exact same thing on channel 64, right down to that music bed.  The last five seconds of that bed was Cincinnati's ON-TV ID stinger.  The announcer giving the movie rating was even the same.  Strange that ON-TV wouldn't be consistent market to market.