TREotM: The Early Eighties and the Rise of Cable

This is a work in progress Be sure to read amp8220The Revolutionary Evolution of the Mediaamp8221 from the beginningIn 1980 TVHH penetration pushed to 979 penetration or 763millionamp160 Cable hit 192million subscribers connected to 4225 systemsWarner Cable built the worldamp8217s first interactive cable television systemamp160 They called it Qube and soon introduced a bunch of channels that included these soontobe necessary everywhere for a time channels MTV Nickelodeon and The Movie Channelamp160 At first the channels were limited to Columbus Ohio but it wasnamp8217t long before they were syndicated to other cable systemsamp160 Qube did moreamp160 The system the first fully twoway allowed subscribers to vote and they nonbinding except for Qube questions about programming voted on just about everythingamp160 The polls presaged the everyday surveys from Internet companies such as Survey Monkeyamp8220Who shot JRamp8221 kept fans of amp8220Dallasamp8221 guessing all summer as the cliffhanger that worked was shown in April amp8230 sort of answers came that fallAt 500 pm EDT on June 1 1980 at a former country club in Atlanta that housed Turner Broadcasting Ted Turner turned on the Cable News Network amp8230 and noted it would never turn offamp160 The husbandwife team of Lois Hart and David Walker anchored the first news houramp160 The service debuted on most major MSO systemsamp160 Turner ever marketing soon decided the US shouldnamp8217t have CNN to itselfamp160 Recognizing that satellites could cover the world too Ted began licensing the service to major hotels around the world almost right awayamp160 That eventually led to CNNI or CNN InternationalIn September Multichannel News amp8211 covering cable distributors programmers and other vendors amp8211 launched it quickly became one of Fairchild Publications and CapCities more profitable performers amp160It debuted with an exclusive on the explosion of Satcom IIIIBM commissioned Microsoft to build an operating system for personal computersamp160 And we spent too many years in DOS before Windows openedEarly in the year NBC which had first broadcast the Summer Games in 1964 obtained the rights for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow amp8230 but after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott Moscow amp8230 and NBC was limited to some spotty coverage for the few affiliates that carried it during newscastsamp160 NBC didnamp8217t give up they have carried the Summer Games since 1988 and the Winter Games since 2002 and hold the rights for both through 2020In March the late night ABC news update became a half hour called Nightline anchored by Ted Koppel it lasted with Ted until November 2005amp160amp160 Back near Iran on April 24 Operation Eagle Claw failed resulting in the death of eight servicemen one Iranian civilian and the loss of two helicoptersamp160 During the crisis the students released 14 52 stayed until Ronald Reagan began his inaugural speech that Iran released the hostages on January 20 1981Back on hostagetaking day six diplomats evaded capture and hid at the home of a Canadian diplomat under the protection of the Canadian ambassadoramp160 In 2012 the motion picture Argo won Academy Awards for its somewhat fictionalized version of their escapeNightline had a lasting impression on America well beyond the defeat of President Jimmy Carter by challenger Ronald Reaganamp160 Firsts included the first live broadcasts from the upper base at Mount Everest from Antarctica a 4 hour special town hall meeting on AIDS the admission by Presidential Candidate Gary Hart that he had been unfaithful the racial admissions made by LA Dodgers manager and 40year employee Al Campanis he was fired the following morning and the reading in 2003 of the American dead from the Iraq War to which Sinclair Broadcasting objected the mere reading of the names was amp8220politicsamp8221MTV launched nationally with a video of the Buggles performing amp8220Video Killed the Radio Staramp8221amp160 The first home modem debuted HayesA flurry of cable networks launched across the decadeIn 1980 Cinemax The Learning Channel and USA NetworkIn 1981 Eternal Word TV NetworkUSA Todayamp160launched in front of hundreds of hotel room doorsamp160 Crain Communications debuted Electronic Media to compete with other magazines covering broadcasting cable and the new electronic news services connected via telephone and modem its remnants turned into just Television Week in 2009amp160 Home Shopping Network went on the air in Miami later via satellite everywhereamp160 Windows launched in 1983amp160The next year brought the Apple Macintosh and more GUIs graphical user interfacesamp160 Multichannel News figured out how to move editorial and advertising copy piggy backing on US Westamp8217s internal communications system that functioned like a combination of primitive email and word processing systemsamp160 The newspaper talked US West executives into testing regular communications from reporters in New York Los Angeles and Washington DC to Denver headquarters using terminals placed at their desks connected by 300 baud internal systems accessed by regular telephones using shoeboxsized modemsamp160 News moved faster againamp160 The network launches propelled the advertising and HBO was the first advertiserIn 1982 The Playboy Channel The Weather ChannelIn 1983 Country Music TVNext week Chapter 10 Part 7 amp8211 The MidEighties and More Cable ChannelsThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers

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TREotM: The Early Eighties and the Rise of Cable

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Paul S. Maxwell

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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