What year did Y'all first get Cable TV?

[vibe]

Like KML (reply#1) my family's first cable system was the old United Cable in New Britain. Really enjoyed the NYC indies. My first year of cable (on my own) was in 1976 in Las Cruces NM. it had 12 channels, the 3 nets from El paso, the PBS from las Cruces, 2 Spanish stations from Juarez. I know we had the major indies from L.A. ( think it was 4 stations), a station that revolved around the 3 Albuquerque nets, and other stuff which I can't remember. But it was a bargain at about $6 a month for a lot of Dodger, Angel, and Laker, and college BB games.

 

[ClassicSeattleTVFan]

Here in Seattle, we first had cable TV back in December, 1978 and here's what we originally had:

2-CBUT, Vancouver B.C. (CBC)
4-KOMO, Seattle, WA (ABC)
5-KING, Seattle, WA (NBC)
6-CHEK, Victoria, B.C (CBC, CTV if I remember right)
7-KIRO, Seattle, WA (CBS)
8-CHAN (BCTV), Vancouver, B.C., (CTV)
9-KCTS, Seattle, WA (PBS)
10-KPTV, Portland, OR (Ind, they used to air Portland Trail Blazer games but when they played the Sonics in Seattle it would be blacked out due to regulations by FCC or the NBA)
11-KSTW, Tacoma/Seattle, WA (Ind, known as "good lookin' 11" and was a superstation in the Pacific Northwest now known as CW 11)
12-KVOS, Bellingham, WA (CBS (only aired daytime programs that KIRO didn't air), targeting to Canadian audience in nearby Vancouver B.C.)
13-KCPQ, Tacoma, WA (PBS and now the Fox affiliate)

 

[poops]

Down here in Southeast Texas in a small city named Clute, we first had cable in 1972. It was really great at the time. We had...

NBC affiliate
Local Channel (A flip card machine for local announcements and sales)
PBS
CBS affiliate
ABC affiliate
Independent (UHF ch 39)
Independent (UHF ch 26)
and the weather channel (Rebroadcast of NOAA weather radio Galveston...all NOAA, all the time)

Rather sparse lineup compared to today.

poops

 

[azumanga]

Here in Seattle, we first had cable TV back in December, 1978 and here's what we originally had:

10-KPTV, Portland, OR (Ind, they used to air Portland Trail Blazer games but when they played the Sonics in Seattle it would be blacked out due to regulations by FCC or the NBA)

I think that would be the NBA's doing, as they had (and still have) blackout rules regarding broadcasts from out-of-town stations involving local teams in the viewer's market.

 

[chuckydoll]

1971 -- when my mother had her home built in North Haven, Long Island. She got cable because she didn't want a big antenna on top of her roof. She moved in before Thanksgiving but wasn't able to get hooked up until 3 days after Xmas. This meant I missed the Xmas Day NFL playoff game between Miami and Kansas City, the longest NFL game to this date.

North Haven is on the highway that leads to Shelter Island, so my family was fortunate to get Suffolk Cable of Shelter Island. Its channel lineup was:

2 -- WCBS-TV (CBS), New York
3 -- WTIC-TV (CBS), Hartford
4 -- WNBC-TV (NBC), New York
5 -- WNEW-TV, New York
6 -- WTEV (ABC), New Bedford/Providence
7 -- WABC-TV (ABC), New York
8 -- WTNH (ABC), New Haven
9 -- WOR-TV, New York (great to have for Mets games)
10 -- WJAR-TV (NBC), Providence
11 -- WPIX, New York
12 -- WHNB (NBC/TV30), New Britain/Hartford
13 -- WNET (PBS), New York

Why was my family fortunate? Most of Eastern Long Island had to put up with Long Island Cablevision, which refused to carry Channel 7 from NYC (WTNH-8 didn't want any competition on the East End). Suffolk Cable didn't do things that way.

Ownership: Suffolk Cable > Cablevision

I moved to New Jersey in 1976 but didn't get cable there until my neighborhood was wired in '81. Cross Country Cable served my town; it brought in all the NYC locals plus the 3 independents from Philly (always good for sports). In fact, Cross Country carried MTV from the beginning and was one of the first in New Jersey to have ESPN.

Ownership: Cross Country > TKR Cable > Cablevision

What was cool for being early on cable in my part of New Jersey? Seeing the 1982 World Cup from Spain via WXTV-41. Sure, all the commentary was in Spanish, but you got to see how the biggest event in futbol dwarfs a Super Bowl.

Also had HBO for 4-5 years when it became available.

 

[mjlarochelle]

6-CHEK, Victoria, B.C (CBC, CTV if I remember right)

CHEK was indeed a dual CBC/CTV affiliate at that time. It went to CTV only in 1981.

 

[oldschooler1]

What about WWNY-TV channel 7 (CBS) of Carthage/Watertown, NY? I'm pretty certain you would've had that station. As for WWTI-TV (ABC) channel 50 of Watertown, I think they signed on in 1988.

The other poster was right, Malone NY (and the rest of Franklin County) is in the Burlington Market. So those tv stations would get preference for cable carriage. WNPE (now WPBS) I believe is still on cable tv in that town today. If I remember I think they have a full powered second station near Norwood NY, which is about 45 miles to the west. I am assuming that it is easy to recieve OTA, that is the only reason why I would think time warner would have that station on as opposed to the other burlington PBS station (channel 33 I think).

Yep, WPBS/Watertown is on ch. 16 (with a great signal, watchable sometimes in the northern suburbs of Syracuse), AND WNPI/Norwood is on ch. 18.
WWTI/ABC Watertown used to lose viewers to WIXT/ABC Syracuse (now WSYR), when WIXT was still on cable in St. Lawrence County -- and, apparently Franklin County (man, that's FAR FAR away from Syracuse!). Just until a few years ago, WIXT was still on something like cable ch. 23 in St. Lawrence County. A legacy station like that would get more viewers in prime time than the ABC affiliate in Watertown.

 

[crainbebo]

My family got cable in 1987, when my mom moved from Yakima to Mill Creek, WA, in an apartment.
Cable Provider: Viacom Cable (only a guess)
Don't know the channels but here's some (not all channels) we got. Don't ask me about channels I missed or cable channel numbers, I don't know that.
KOMO (ABC)
KING (NBC)
KIRO (CBS)
KCTS (PBS)
KSTW (Ind)
KCPQ (Ind)
ESPN
USA
Cable Value Network (the cable provider had this until about '89-'90, when they said goodbye to CVN and hello to QVC on the cable system)
And maybe CBUT (CBC), i'm not sure.

-crainbebo

 

[kc0ltv]

I had cable the first six or so years of my life, before we moved out into the country. I remember Bresnan in Duluth, MN from roughly 1993 was something like this:

2 Showtime (premium)
4 KDLH (CBS 3)
5 KBJR (NBC 6)
7 Local Access
9 KMSP (IND - Minneapolis, MN)
11 WDSE (PBS 8)
12 Can't remember
13 WDIO (ABC 10)

14 - 20 were basic cable channels...I believe A & E, TBS, WGN, and AMC plus others were there.
21 - 24 were premium networks....there was HBO, Cinemax, Encore, and oddly enough, The Disney Channel. Yes, you had to pay for the Disney Channel!
25 - 36 (I remember it ending at 36) were more basic cable channels: The Weather Channel, CNBC, Bravo, Discovery, MTV, etc.

Right after we had cable disconnected, about 3 months before our move, Bresnan added about twenty channels (must have upgraded their system). I know Comedy Central, E!, and Sci-Fi were among the additions.

Around 1997, they once again upgraded, this time a major upgrade, which I believe allowed them to offer cable internet access and more analog channels. By that point they had channels in the 80's.