I caved in and signed up for a trial membership to Highbeam Research, an online source that provides articles from a plethora of publications going as far back as the mid 1980s. I've been pouring over articles about the cable industry 20-plus years ago and found the now-historical documents fascinating!
I've long been interested in superstations and the importing of distant broadcasting signals, the bread and butter of the cable industry in its very early days, probably because I enjoy traveling so much. I noted a few interesting tidbits during my Highbeam search.
For instance, as I suspected, United Video, the uplinker of the WGN-9 signal out of Chicago gave up the rights to do so in 2001. Since then, Tribune has been overseeing WGN America (formerly Superstation WGN). I suspect Tribune and UV were working in tandem with programming on the national signal prior to that split. Also, an article commemorating Superstation WGN's 25th anniversary (in 2003) included an interview with the GM of the station in 1978. He was mortified when he learned WGN-9 was being beamed by UV across the country. Of course, he had no say in the matter. Over time, the two entities worked together and saw a revenue opportunity on both sides.
A few questions have popped into my mind, and I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on them:
1) Few would argue that superstations have seen their day. WGN America, obviously, is carried widely on cable and satellite systems throughout the country. And WWOR's national signal was famously dropped late in 1996 on cable. What about the smaller superstations - WPIX, WSBK, etc.? I know Dish Network offers them (WWOR, too) to qualifying customers. I doubt this would ever happen, but could my cable operator - Time Warner - here in Milwaukee decide to add WPIX to its line-up in today's modern climate? Or, have WPIX, WSBK and the others been relegated solely to that Dish superstations package with WWOR?
2) I discovered, through the Highbeam research, that Turner Broadcasting successfully transformed TBS into a basic cable network in the late 1990s. The old WTBS, in essense, was then simulcasting a cable network, rather than TBS being a superstation of an Atlanta independent station. I read WGN was attempting something similar. Is WGN America still considered a superstation, in the technical sense, or is it now a national cable network?
I've long been interested in superstations and the importing of distant broadcasting signals, the bread and butter of the cable industry in its very early days, probably because I enjoy traveling so much. I noted a few interesting tidbits during my Highbeam search.
For instance, as I suspected, United Video, the uplinker of the WGN-9 signal out of Chicago gave up the rights to do so in 2001. Since then, Tribune has been overseeing WGN America (formerly Superstation WGN). I suspect Tribune and UV were working in tandem with programming on the national signal prior to that split. Also, an article commemorating Superstation WGN's 25th anniversary (in 2003) included an interview with the GM of the station in 1978. He was mortified when he learned WGN-9 was being beamed by UV across the country. Of course, he had no say in the matter. Over time, the two entities worked together and saw a revenue opportunity on both sides.
A few questions have popped into my mind, and I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on them:
1) Few would argue that superstations have seen their day. WGN America, obviously, is carried widely on cable and satellite systems throughout the country. And WWOR's national signal was famously dropped late in 1996 on cable. What about the smaller superstations - WPIX, WSBK, etc.? I know Dish Network offers them (WWOR, too) to qualifying customers. I doubt this would ever happen, but could my cable operator - Time Warner - here in Milwaukee decide to add WPIX to its line-up in today's modern climate? Or, have WPIX, WSBK and the others been relegated solely to that Dish superstations package with WWOR?
2) I discovered, through the Highbeam research, that Turner Broadcasting successfully transformed TBS into a basic cable network in the late 1990s. The old WTBS, in essense, was then simulcasting a cable network, rather than TBS being a superstation of an Atlanta independent station. I read WGN was attempting something similar. Is WGN America still considered a superstation, in the technical sense, or is it now a national cable network?
