Do You Remember Life Before...

...hundreds of TV channels?
Channel glut was made possible by cable (and later, satellite) TV systems.  Initially, cable systems just relayed a few channels to small, isolated communities where over-the-air broadcast signals were weak or nonexistent.  But then cable-only networks like CNN appeared, and the rest, you might say, is History Channel.
hundreds of TV channels

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There are 5 comments for this item.

Posted by LoyalTubist at 11:00 pm (PDT) on Tue May 16, 2017   
We only had channels 2-13 until 1967. In Los Angeles that meant you couldn't get the educational stations (now the PBS network, although KCET dropped its PBS affiliation a few years ago and became independent). Interestingly, when we got a TV that could get all the channels, it was more intriguing than five years later and we got a color TV. We could also get foreign language and Christian stations we couldn't get before.
Posted by buickman at 1:26 am (PST) on Fri November 18, 2016   
Always had antenna TV living near Chicago then Detroit. Moved to Rapid City SD in 1969 to find only two antenna stations (mainly CBS and NBC with ABC tied to both). For 5 bucks a month we signed up for community antenna TV, a local cable service. Wow, we got all three major networks, PBS and KWGN out of Denver. Additionally there was a weather scan channel consisting of a camera moving across a bank of meters showing temp, humidity, wind direction, wind speed and barometric pressure. This allowed me to calculate wind chill so I could dress just right for the conditions. In 73 we moved to the Pittsburgh area and then to Detroit and have not had cable or dish since.
Posted by Mr.Nostalgia2 at 4:46 am (PDT) on Sun July 17, 2016   
In NYC..Back in the 1940's,50's and 60's..We had
great live local kids tv shows..with people..who could
entertain,inform and educate their way.Whether they
portrayed a character..or? they hosted their programs
as themselves..they knew how to present a quality
show for the kids and there were no tv censor groups
telling them what to do and what not to do.

Today's kids are sadly..lacking a show that needs
the one real commodity that makes a kids tv show
great..A real human being.
Posted by Mr.Nostalgia2 at 5:31 pm (PDT) on Sat July 16, 2016   
In NYC..back in the 1940's,50's,60's and 70's..we only had seven channels:WNBT(which later became WRCA and WNBC)Ch.4,WCBW(WCBS)Ch.2,WJZ(WABC)Ch.7,WABD(WNEW now WNYW)Ch.5.We also had WPIX Ch.11,WOR(now WWOR)Ch.9..first in NYC now..in Seacaucus,N.J. and WATV/WNTA/WNET Ch.13..first in Newark,N.J. and now in NYC.
Posted by kluv42 at 2:40 pm (PDT) on Fri July 15, 2016   
Yup, In the 60's I remember not being able to watch my SF GIants on TV for more than maybe 15-18 games a year, all road games. It was worse in the LA area, where the ONLY Dodgers games shown live on local TV were the nine games per season in SF against the GIants. There was *ONE* Saturday Game Of The Week which usually featured the "Big Red Machine" vs. whomever they were playing that week...

Golf coverage was an hour or two Saturday and Sunday, last four holes only ones shown...

Of course, there was Wide World Of Sports... The Triple Crown races and almost no other horse racing ever... And NFL, AFL, and college football... West-coast college teams practically never got on the air except for the Rose Bowl...

Three networks in primetime (plus "public TV", which nobody ever watched), but more good shows than there are on the 200+ channels of crap we have now... Oh, and in my area at least, KTVU Channel 2, at the time the largest non-network station in the country and one of the few that had the cash-on-hand to produce original shows and specials... and pro rassling...

As you might guess from this rant, I could easily do without cable now if I wasn't a sports fan. :)

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