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What year did Y'all first get Cable TV?
- Thread starter David67
- Start date
The old United Cable here in New Britain, CT, back in April of 1981! We were an early subscriber to The Movie Channel. We had a wired push-button box with a fine tuning wheel and three levels (2 to 13 up top, 14 to 25 in the middle and 26 to 37 on the bottom). Our out-of-market selection then? WNEW (WNYW), WWOR, WPIX, WSBK and WGBY (PBS Springfield, MA). Suprisingly, I hooked that box to my mother's TV as a one-night fix in 1993 and it still worked!
As a child, I remember some guy standing next to the TV and explaining to my father that 2 was 28, 4 was 22, 6 was 16, 9 was 44, and 12 was 12. That was in Meshoppen, Wyoming Co., PA in Dec. 1968, and although I didn't realize it at the time, the guy had just installed our cable TV. The stations were WBRE 28, WDAU 22, WNEP 16 and WVIA 44 from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and WNBF 12 from Binghamton. We had lived in a neighboring town for a year prior to that, but I don't remember what we did for TV then, or even if we had a TV.
Somehow, I just accepted it as normal that the channel you tuned to wasn't the channel by which the station ID'd, and I couldn't figure out why at my grandparents' house near Wilkes-Barre, the channels did match the station ID.
Somehow, I just accepted it as normal that the channel you tuned to wasn't the channel by which the station ID'd, and I couldn't figure out why at my grandparents' house near Wilkes-Barre, the channels did match the station ID.
Where I grew up (Tujunga, CA - suburb of Los Angeles), we got cable about 1966. Due to the mountainous terrain, it was a fringe reception area for LA stations over the air, though San Diego stations generally came in loud and clear. About 1965, "Seven Hills Cable" was established to bring reception to a new housing subdivision that got no TV reception at all. Within a couple of years, their service was offerred to the entire town. My parents signed up because they wanted to get the "NET" (now PBS) station - KCET 28. KCET and a couple of other UHF stations were converted to the VHF dial for a grand total of 12 stations.
I remember I was disappointed when I saw the cable company's supposedly "high-tech" apparatus - which appeared to be merely a typical roof-top TV antenna - only it was about 30 feet up on a telephone pole in an area of town that got decent reception. This was before satellite, obviously.
I remember I was disappointed when I saw the cable company's supposedly "high-tech" apparatus - which appeared to be merely a typical roof-top TV antenna - only it was about 30 feet up on a telephone pole in an area of town that got decent reception. This was before satellite, obviously.
I was born in 1965 and I seem to recall cable tv as early as 1969, not many channels but we could pull in the detroit network affiliates as well as our toledo ones, which was cool, because if toledo pre-empted network, we could tune in to detroit as long as it wasn't a national pre-emption.
Donny G ;D
Donny G ;D
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Isn't that where HBO began as a local service?
My parents lived in the country, and in the late 80's they got a service called Choice TV that was neither cable nor satellite (can't remember how it worked, exactly), but they were able to get most of the major cable channels of the day. I do remember, though, that instead of ESPN, they had SportsChannel (now FSN, of course).
Isn't that where HBO began as a local service?
My parents lived in the country, and in the late 80's they got a service called Choice TV that was neither cable nor satellite (can't remember how it worked, exactly), but they were able to get most of the major cable channels of the day. I do remember, though, that instead of ESPN, they had SportsChannel (now FSN, of course).
We got cable in 1972. First house on the block and the place where neighborhood kids came after school to watch Ultraman and Tom Slick off Channels 17 and 48 in Philadelphia. 17 for sure, can't remember exactly if there were other Philly stations.
I live in Scranton and I seem to remember HBO being introduced here in 74 or 75. "Home Box" we called it
I live in Scranton and I seem to remember HBO being introduced here in 74 or 75. "Home Box" we called it
We first had cable in the Orlando area in the early-to-mid 70's. A basic 12-channel system then, as I recall. Don't ask me to recall the specific channel assignments, after the first two below I don't recall what went where. But at various times (all calls are what were used back then), we had:
-- Public Access/Time and Temp on channel 2 (perennially bothered by OTA "leakage" from WESH)
-- Channel 13 was local origination and also the "pre-empt" channel where network shows not carried by the Orlando affiliates were picked up (with poor-to-fair-to-good quality, depending on propagation) from Tampa 8, 10, and 13
-- The four major local affiliates WESH-2 (NBC), WDBO-6 (CBS), WFTV-9 (ABC) and WMFE-24 (PBS)
-- WSWB-35, then an indie that went dark after a few years (to eventually be replaced by WOFL) -- they provided my first exposure to "The Benny Hill Show" (!)
-- WCIX-6 Miami and WKID-51 Ft. Lauderdale, both indies at the time and brought in via microwave
-- WTOG-44 for a time, not sure whether microwaved or off-air (used to watch the infamous "Dr. Paul Bearer" with his horror flicks) - they were eventually dropped from the system for some reason
-- WTBS and HBO via satellite when they became available
I guess that's 12 channels.....realize, too, that not all of those were there from the start -- when we first had cable, it was a 12-channel system, but there were only maybe 6 or 7 channels actually available at first. I always thought that we should have only paid half as much as we were, seeing as they were only using half the channels.
-- Public Access/Time and Temp on channel 2 (perennially bothered by OTA "leakage" from WESH)
-- Channel 13 was local origination and also the "pre-empt" channel where network shows not carried by the Orlando affiliates were picked up (with poor-to-fair-to-good quality, depending on propagation) from Tampa 8, 10, and 13
-- The four major local affiliates WESH-2 (NBC), WDBO-6 (CBS), WFTV-9 (ABC) and WMFE-24 (PBS)
-- WSWB-35, then an indie that went dark after a few years (to eventually be replaced by WOFL) -- they provided my first exposure to "The Benny Hill Show" (!)
-- WCIX-6 Miami and WKID-51 Ft. Lauderdale, both indies at the time and brought in via microwave
-- WTOG-44 for a time, not sure whether microwaved or off-air (used to watch the infamous "Dr. Paul Bearer" with his horror flicks) - they were eventually dropped from the system for some reason
-- WTBS and HBO via satellite when they became available
I guess that's 12 channels.....realize, too, that not all of those were there from the start -- when we first had cable, it was a 12-channel system, but there were only maybe 6 or 7 channels actually available at first. I always thought that we should have only paid half as much as we were, seeing as they were only using half the channels.
I first got cable in the summer of 1981 when we moved to Taylor, MI, a suburb of Detroit
January 1980, if memory serves, just before the debut of our first local indie, WUHF-31.
The system was People's Cable, which served most of the suburbs of Rochester. (The city itself didn't get cabled for another year or so after that, and it was a separate system that merged with People's in 1984.)
30 channels, give or take a couple of blank ones, and I think I can still remember much of the lineup by heart:
2 - WGR-TV (NBC Buffalo)
3 - WSYR-TV (NBC Syracuse)
4 - WIVB (CBS Buffalo)
5 - WTVH (CBS Syracuse)
6 - CJOH (CTV Deseronto/Ottawa - or maybe that came along a year or two later?)
7 - WKBW (ABC Buffalo)
8 - WROC (NBC Rochester)
9 - WOR-TV (Ind. NYC)
10 - WHEC (CBS Rochester)
11 - WPIX (Ind. NYC)
12 - Local access
13 - WOKR (ABC Rochester)
14 - HBO
15 - vacant, later Cinemax
16 - vacant?
17 - WTBS Atlanta
18 - access
19 - access
20 - access
21 - WXXI (PBS Rochester)
22 - MTV (in 1981)
23 - MSG?
24 - ESPN
25 - CBLFT (Radio-Canada
26 - CNN (later in 1980)
27 - vacant?
28 - vacant?
29 - vacant?
30 - vacant?
31 - WUHF (Ind. Rochester)
There were a lot more satellite channels that were added within the next year or two after we got cable - I recall us having SPN, ARTS, Nickelodeon, CNN2, TNN and a few others in the early 80s, as well as a brief superstation flourish that brought in WSBK and WNEW for a while.
Someday, when I find some free time, I'll dig into the boxes upstairs and find some of the early channel lineups from the era to post.
The system was People's Cable, which served most of the suburbs of Rochester. (The city itself didn't get cabled for another year or so after that, and it was a separate system that merged with People's in 1984.)
30 channels, give or take a couple of blank ones, and I think I can still remember much of the lineup by heart:
2 - WGR-TV (NBC Buffalo)
3 - WSYR-TV (NBC Syracuse)
4 - WIVB (CBS Buffalo)
5 - WTVH (CBS Syracuse)
6 - CJOH (CTV Deseronto/Ottawa - or maybe that came along a year or two later?)
7 - WKBW (ABC Buffalo)
8 - WROC (NBC Rochester)
9 - WOR-TV (Ind. NYC)
10 - WHEC (CBS Rochester)
11 - WPIX (Ind. NYC)
12 - Local access
13 - WOKR (ABC Rochester)
14 - HBO
15 - vacant, later Cinemax
16 - vacant?
17 - WTBS Atlanta
18 - access
19 - access
20 - access
21 - WXXI (PBS Rochester)
22 - MTV (in 1981)
23 - MSG?
24 - ESPN
25 - CBLFT (Radio-Canada
26 - CNN (later in 1980)
27 - vacant?
28 - vacant?
29 - vacant?
30 - vacant?
31 - WUHF (Ind. Rochester)
There were a lot more satellite channels that were added within the next year or two after we got cable - I recall us having SPN, ARTS, Nickelodeon, CNN2, TNN and a few others in the early 80s, as well as a brief superstation flourish that brought in WSBK and WNEW for a while.
Someday, when I find some free time, I'll dig into the boxes upstairs and find some of the early channel lineups from the era to post.
Somewhere in the late 50s or, maybe, 61, 62...
I think it was '81....I grew up in Louisville...we got our locals: WAVE 3, NBC, WHAS 11, then CBS, now ABC WLKY 32, then ABC,now CBS WDRB 41, then indy, now FOX, our poubs on 15 and 68, and the "Superstaions" of the day, WOR, WGN, WTBS, we also got WXIX 19 outta Cincy.
Before MTV, WLRS had a TV feed, which was cool. It was replaced by MTV when it signed on. We had our choice of HBO, Showtime, and The Movie Channel for premiums. It was CSI or PTI or some such for "city" customers and Storer for "county"...all this eventually was gobbled up by Insight, after Storer gobbled up the "City" brand...the Storer customers had the tan box with the analog slider, and the melted red crayons on the bottom screws as a tampering deterrent (lol).
In the city, we had the black box with the dial on the front, and on either model, if you worked a butterknife in there just right, you could de-scrambe the pay channels. So, I have distinct memories of being an elementary school kid, parents upstairs asleep, and me downstairs with the sound down, brightness down, contrast down, butterknife in place, and watching The Playboy Channel!!!!
Before MTV, WLRS had a TV feed, which was cool. It was replaced by MTV when it signed on. We had our choice of HBO, Showtime, and The Movie Channel for premiums. It was CSI or PTI or some such for "city" customers and Storer for "county"...all this eventually was gobbled up by Insight, after Storer gobbled up the "City" brand...the Storer customers had the tan box with the analog slider, and the melted red crayons on the bottom screws as a tampering deterrent (lol).
In the city, we had the black box with the dial on the front, and on either model, if you worked a butterknife in there just right, you could de-scrambe the pay channels. So, I have distinct memories of being an elementary school kid, parents upstairs asleep, and me downstairs with the sound down, brightness down, contrast down, butterknife in place, and watching The Playboy Channel!!!!
1984 was the first time we had cable in our house, but that's about all the details I can recall....
Here in Birmingham, we got cable in '79. At the time, Birmingham had only four over-the-air stations: WBRC-6 (then ABC, now Fox), WAPI-13 (NBC, now WVTM), WBMG-42 (CBS, now WIAT) and WBIQ-10 (PBS). Birmingham Cable (now Brighthouse) offered subscribers 10 total channels: the four local stations; WTCG-17 (later WTBS, now WPCH) and WHAE-46 (now WGCL) from Atlanta; SPN spiltting time with the PTL Network; HBO, Reuters News text (with elevator music station WQEZ-FM 96 playing in the background); Reuters Sports News and scores text.
IIRC, the system expanded to roughly 20 channels in '81. The first converter we had was one of the models with the slide-bar tuner. Early channels that came on the new and expanded line-up included WGN, WOR, ESPN, Nickelodeon, which shared a channel with ARTS (now A & E); USA, a station that showed the live weather radar feed from the NWS with NOAA weather radio in the background, UPI Newstime and a channel that gave the complete channel line-up for the rest of the cable system.
IIRC, the system expanded to roughly 20 channels in '81. The first converter we had was one of the models with the slide-bar tuner. Early channels that came on the new and expanded line-up included WGN, WOR, ESPN, Nickelodeon, which shared a channel with ARTS (now A & E); USA, a station that showed the live weather radar feed from the NWS with NOAA weather radio in the background, UPI Newstime and a channel that gave the complete channel line-up for the rest of the cable system.
My household first received cable in April of 1990 and I clearly remember being engrossed in USA's afternoon game show lineup (which was well before GSN existed) back then. We only had 22 or 23 channels at the time: for music videos it was either BET or CMT (no MTV or VH1 in their heyday), and kids got cartoons from USA or the Family Channel. Why no Nickelodeon, MTV, or VH1? My guess is either the budget of the local cable company was too tight for carriage or issues about the content of those networks.
With family on each end of Kentucky, I've experience various forms of cable.
The first I experience was Whitesburg, Kentucky. That system was created in the early 50's by a local radio/TV retailer. The line-up was the following circa the 1970's:
2) ABC-WHTN (WOWK) Huntington, WV/WKPT Kingsport, TN/WLOS Asheville, NC
3) PBS-WSJK Sneedville, TN/WKHA (KET) Hazard, KY. When PBS was off the air or for Reds games it was WSAZ (NBC) Huntington, WV
4) CBS-WJHL Johnson City, TN/WBIR Knoxville, TN
5) NBC WKYH Hazard, KY (Became WYMT (CBS) in 1985)
6) NBC WHIS (WVVA) Bluefield, WV/WCYB Bristol/WATE Knoxville
As you can tell, it was a challenge to watch syndicated programming as the line up would change based on atmospheric conditions and the whim of the cable company.
Owensboro, Kentucky had cable in the sixties with a company called "Topvision". The Steele family (owner of WVJS/WSTO) purchased the system and rebuilt from the ground up. It was one of the first systems to have HBO. Their line up circa 1975
2) WVJS-TV (local programming)
3) HBO
4) WFIE Evansville (NBC)
5) WEHT Evansville (CBS)
6) AP newswire
7) WTVW Evansville (ABC)
8 ) Weather (The channel still exist today on Time Warner Ch. 75. It was dropped but an outcry brought it back)
9) WNIN Evansville (PBS
10) WDXR-TV Paducah (Station went dark and was replaced with WTTV Bloomington)
11) WDRB Louisville
12) WKMA Madisonville (KET)
13) WBKO Bowling Green (ABC) However, during network programming WTVW was aired.
My first experience with cable at home was 1981 in Lexington. The company with Telecable. They were a frustrating company. Many wanted WDRB Louisville and WXIX (Newport) Cincinnati but Telecable claimed they couldn't receive the signals. Anybody with a high gain UHF antenna would disagree. It was a 35 channel line up and the box of choice was a Jerrold.
2) WKYT CBS
3) Govt Access that remain dormant for several years
4) ?
5) Public Access
6) Local Origination (remain dormant for years)
7) WTBS
8 ) WLEX NBC
9) USA
10) WTVQ ABC
11) Home Theater Network
12) WKLE KET
13) Public Schools
14) Future use (MTV 1982)
15) KET ETC (Now KET2)
16) UKTV
17) ACSN
18)?
19) Bulletin Board
20) Program Guide
21) HBO
22) future use (Eventually TNN)
23) Race Results
24) Cinemax
25) TMC
26) ESPN
27) Radar (never existed became Weather Channel in 1982 owned by Telecable)
28) CBN
29) SIN
30) Nick/ARTS (The predecessor of A&E)
31) SPN
32) CNN
33) Telecable Classic Movies (Public Domain movies)
34) Shopper's Guide (A graphic that compared prices of local groceries)
35) PTL
36) Network Wildcard (Network Preemption Channel)
The first I experience was Whitesburg, Kentucky. That system was created in the early 50's by a local radio/TV retailer. The line-up was the following circa the 1970's:
2) ABC-WHTN (WOWK) Huntington, WV/WKPT Kingsport, TN/WLOS Asheville, NC
3) PBS-WSJK Sneedville, TN/WKHA (KET) Hazard, KY. When PBS was off the air or for Reds games it was WSAZ (NBC) Huntington, WV
4) CBS-WJHL Johnson City, TN/WBIR Knoxville, TN
5) NBC WKYH Hazard, KY (Became WYMT (CBS) in 1985)
6) NBC WHIS (WVVA) Bluefield, WV/WCYB Bristol/WATE Knoxville
As you can tell, it was a challenge to watch syndicated programming as the line up would change based on atmospheric conditions and the whim of the cable company.
Owensboro, Kentucky had cable in the sixties with a company called "Topvision". The Steele family (owner of WVJS/WSTO) purchased the system and rebuilt from the ground up. It was one of the first systems to have HBO. Their line up circa 1975
2) WVJS-TV (local programming)
3) HBO
4) WFIE Evansville (NBC)
5) WEHT Evansville (CBS)
6) AP newswire
7) WTVW Evansville (ABC)
8 ) Weather (The channel still exist today on Time Warner Ch. 75. It was dropped but an outcry brought it back)
9) WNIN Evansville (PBS
10) WDXR-TV Paducah (Station went dark and was replaced with WTTV Bloomington)
11) WDRB Louisville
12) WKMA Madisonville (KET)
13) WBKO Bowling Green (ABC) However, during network programming WTVW was aired.
My first experience with cable at home was 1981 in Lexington. The company with Telecable. They were a frustrating company. Many wanted WDRB Louisville and WXIX (Newport) Cincinnati but Telecable claimed they couldn't receive the signals. Anybody with a high gain UHF antenna would disagree. It was a 35 channel line up and the box of choice was a Jerrold.
2) WKYT CBS
3) Govt Access that remain dormant for several years
4) ?
5) Public Access
6) Local Origination (remain dormant for years)
7) WTBS
8 ) WLEX NBC
9) USA
10) WTVQ ABC
11) Home Theater Network
12) WKLE KET
13) Public Schools
14) Future use (MTV 1982)
15) KET ETC (Now KET2)
16) UKTV
17) ACSN
18)?
19) Bulletin Board
20) Program Guide
21) HBO
22) future use (Eventually TNN)
23) Race Results
24) Cinemax
25) TMC
26) ESPN
27) Radar (never existed became Weather Channel in 1982 owned by Telecable)
28) CBN
29) SIN
30) Nick/ARTS (The predecessor of A&E)
31) SPN
32) CNN
33) Telecable Classic Movies (Public Domain movies)
34) Shopper's Guide (A graphic that compared prices of local groceries)
35) PTL
36) Network Wildcard (Network Preemption Channel)
We didn't get cable in our home until 1986; we were living at Eielson Air Force Base outside Fairbanks and McCaw Cablevision (later Cooke Cablevision, then Alaska Cable Network, now GCI) was the area's cable service at the time.
Channel lineups back then varied from location. For example, BET was only carried in the military bases (Eielson and Forts Wainwright and Greely); C-SPAN, only in Fairbanks and North Pole; and WWOR was only in Fairbanks and Eielson. As for the local stations: KATN Channel 2 was on Channel 3; KJNP stayed at Channel 4; KFXF Channel 7 (launched in 1992) was on Channel 9; KUAC Channel 9 was on Channel 12; and KTVF Channel 11 was on Channel 13.
After KXD Channel 13 went on in 1996 and GCI replacing ACN as Fairbanks' cable provider shortly thereafter; the lineup was changed with more channels being added and all the local stations finally being at their appropriate locations.
Digital cable arrived in 2002 with the explosion of DirecTV/Dish Network, wasting us no time to replace all of our analog boxes (which have been operational since the McCaw years) for those. And when HD came our way almost two years ago, the first digital boxes had to be traded in yet again for those...considering the fact that right now, KUAC is the only local station broadcasting in HD.
Jonathan Allen
Channel lineups back then varied from location. For example, BET was only carried in the military bases (Eielson and Forts Wainwright and Greely); C-SPAN, only in Fairbanks and North Pole; and WWOR was only in Fairbanks and Eielson. As for the local stations: KATN Channel 2 was on Channel 3; KJNP stayed at Channel 4; KFXF Channel 7 (launched in 1992) was on Channel 9; KUAC Channel 9 was on Channel 12; and KTVF Channel 11 was on Channel 13.
After KXD Channel 13 went on in 1996 and GCI replacing ACN as Fairbanks' cable provider shortly thereafter; the lineup was changed with more channels being added and all the local stations finally being at their appropriate locations.
Digital cable arrived in 2002 with the explosion of DirecTV/Dish Network, wasting us no time to replace all of our analog boxes (which have been operational since the McCaw years) for those. And when HD came our way almost two years ago, the first digital boxes had to be traded in yet again for those...considering the fact that right now, KUAC is the only local station broadcasting in HD.
Jonathan Allen
Oct of 1986, the night of the World Series game where the ball went through Buckner's legs. I grew up
in Nahant, MA, a peninsula near Lynn, and our town didn't get cable till '86--my Dad took advantage of
a special offer from Continental Cablevision. Over the years (I have since moved to Beverly) that
company became Media One, AT&T Broadband, and now Comcast
in Nahant, MA, a peninsula near Lynn, and our town didn't get cable till '86--my Dad took advantage of
a special offer from Continental Cablevision. Over the years (I have since moved to Beverly) that
company became Media One, AT&T Broadband, and now Comcast
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