How Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier and Satellites Changed TV History

The year 1975 is notable for many reasons: The Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon; John Mitchell, the Attorney General of the United States, was found guilty of the Watergate cover-up; fugitive Patty Hearst was captured in San Francisco, and NBC aired the first episode of "Saturday Night Live." To many of us laboring in the shallow trenches of cable television, September 30th, 1975 was the night that changed the course of television history.