Warner Amex Cable Line-Up early 1980's Canton, Ohio

[TimL]

Below is an early 1980's Cable Lineup for Warner Amex Cable In the Canton, Ohio area..I found this on the back of a Floor model TV set at a local Salvation Army store

CATV (basic)

2 WUAB (43) Ind. Cleveland
3 WKYC (3) NBC Cleveland
4 WDLI (17) Ind. (religious) Canton
5 WEWS (5) ABC Cleveland
6 WTRF (7) CBS Wheeling
WKBN (27)CBS Youngstown
WFMJ (21)NBC Youngstown (shared channel)

7 TMC The Movie Channel
8 WJKW (8) CBS Cleveland
9 CBN Christian Broadcasting Network
WTOV (9) NBC Steubenville, Ohio (Shared channel)

10 WAKR (23) ABC Akron
11 WOR-TV (9) Ind. New York City
12 WNEO (45) PBS Alliance, Ohio
13 WOAC (67) Ind. Canton

Premium 1 Tier

7P1 SHOW Showtime
8P1 Community Time/Weather
9P1 CNN Cable News Network
10P1 WVIZ (25) PBS Cleveland
11P1 MTV Music Television
12P1 AP News Cable
C-Span (Shared Channel)

13P1 Canton Schools

Premium 2 Tier

7P2 HBO Home Box Office
8P2 Cable Health Network
9P2 ESPN
10P2 Nickelodeon
ARTS (Shared Channel)

11P2 USA Network
12P2 WCLQ (61) Ind. Cleveland
SPN Satellite Programming Network (Shared Channel)

13P2 WTBS (17) Ind. Atlanta

Stereo sound for MTV=90.3 FM TMC=90.7FM via optional hookup

My guess is that this lineup was in place between 1982 (WOAC Sign-On in March 1982) and 1985 (WJKW-8 call letters changed back to WJW)

 

[rugrats1]

> Premium 1 Tier
>
> 10P1 WVIZ (25) PBS Cleveland

> Premium 2 Tier
>
> 12P2 WCLQ (61) Ind. Cleveland

Why were these channels in the premium tiers when they're actually local (as in, same market as Canton's)?

 

[KMRichards]

> 6 WTRF (7) CBS Wheeling
> WKBN (27)CBS Youngstown
> WFMJ (21)NBC Youngstown (shared channel)

One can only wonder what hours each station got.

> 9 CBN Christian Broadcasting Network
> WTOV (9) NBC Steubenville, Ohio (Shared channel)

Of course, this is back when CBN was primarily a general-entertainment channel with only a few unwelcome interruptions for the 700 Club. I would guess that CBN was on during hours WTOV carried NBC programming?

> 12P1 AP News Cable
> C-Span (Shared Channel)

I believe C-SPAN started using its own transponder in 1983, which would help pinpoint when this lineup was issued. Prior to that, they were leasing time from USA, which is shown on its own channel here.

Most likely, C-SPAN was on when the House was in session, and AP all other hours.

> 12P2 WCLQ (61) Ind. Cleveland
> SPN Satellite Programming Network (Shared Channel)

SPN when WCLQ off-air?

On the technical side, one would wonder what kind of hardware Time Warner was using, since the premium tiers only used the high-V channels and apparently some kind of A/B switch. I don't remember ever seeing a pro-grade A/B/C switch for use in a subscriber's home (and I was connected to the cable/satellite business in addition to radio in the early- to mid-80s).<P ID="signature">______________


</P>

 

[TimL]

> > Premium 1 Tier
> >
> > 10P1 WVIZ (25) PBS Cleveland
>
> > Premium 2 Tier
> >
> > 12P2 WCLQ (61) Ind. Cleveland
>
> Why were these channels in the premium tiers when they're
> actually local (as in, same market as Canton's)?


The Cable Lineup Card only read "Premium 1" and "Premium 2" I added the word "tier" probably in error. As I recall, There was a sliding coverter box with the main channels in the middle and Premium 1 and 2 on either side..If you didnt have a converter you only got 2-13. When I first got cable myself there was a 36 channel analog "clicking" cable converter
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by TimL on 03/15/06 12:20 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[KML0224]

My Early-80s cable experience

I first got cable here in New Britain, CT back in April of 1981. United Cable used a 36-channel wired cable box with 12 big click buttons, a level switch on the left and a fine-tuning wheel on the right. It was numbered "2" to "37" (Level 1 was for channels 2 to 13, etc.). Premium channels at that time were HBO on channel 14 (*), The Movie Channel on 15 and Escapade (Adult) on channel 16. An early modified version of closed circuit or pay-per-view was on channel 17 or 18.

(*) Up until as recently as 2005, HBO was available to New Britain customers with the analog-only lineup on the same channel 14 and were able to view it without a converter. At that time and in the early 1980s, channels 14 and 15 were switched from the outside on the telephone pole. Since last summer, channels 14 and 15 have simply been a series of color bars with nothing on them.<P ID="signature">______________
The 2006 New York Yankees...on to title #27!</P>