Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> I don't know what people were saying about cable TV in
> the 40's and 50's. I'm talking about what happened in
> the 70's when cable-only channels like HBO first started
> to appear. I believe that prior to that, cable TV was
> just a way of providing TV service to communities
> that had environmental difficulties receiving broadcast
> TV (e.g. mountainous terrain blocking the signals).
CATV systems were operating in small-market cities well before 1970,
including communities that already supported local broadcast stations.
Many of these CATV systems produced extensive schedules of local
non-broadcast programming ("origination cablecasting" in FCC-speak),
and much of it included commercial advertising.
As an example, my former employer, Complete Channel TV in Madison
Wisconsin, co-existed in a market with four broadcast stations (ABC,
CBS, NBC, PBS). We operated a full-color studio for several years
before the first satellite-delivered non-broadcast programming
appeared. We used this studio for three types of programming:
commercially-sponsored; non-commercial public affairs; and public
access.
> Since you had to pay extra for these "premium" channels,
> there was an expectation that this would obviate the need
> for commercials.
The CATV industry uses the term "premium" to refer to programming
channels funded by subscriber fees *over and above* the charge for
basic (or extended basic) service. By this definition, premium
channels are, and always have been, commercial free: HBO, Showtime,
The Movie Channel, and Cinemax.
The CATV industry (and the FCC) use the term "cable programming service"
(CPS) to identify channels that:
- Are usually carried on the basic or extended basic tier
(e.g. CNN, ESPN, Discovery, Family Channel), and
- Are not broadcast stations, premium channels, or
access channels.
The entrepreneurs who funded CPS channels certainly didn't expect that
these channels would be commercial-free. With a few exceptions, every
CPS channel carried by satellite after 1975 was launched as a
commercial venture and carried advertising from day one.
There are, of course, exceptions. In a previous post on this subject,
I included a list of non-commercial CPS channels:
http://tinyurl.com/4kfxq
These exceptions aside, CPS channels are, and always have been,
commercial ventures. I don't see how anyone who was familiar with the
CATV industry could have expected that the basic service charge "would
obviate the need for commercials."
References:
The FCC definitions of "basic service" and "CPS" are at 47 CFR 76.901:
http://tinyurl.com/45sj9
An extensive history of the CATV industry, including information about
programming, is at The Cable Center's "Cable History" page:
http://tinyurl.com/5nukj
Neal McLain
Neal McLain (nmclain@annsgarden.com)