AHC: Television distributed by cable right from the beginning

If there was a way for the most popular cable channels to be made available to those with digital antennas, that would be so awesome. You know, something like Me-TV or Bounce.
 
When TV came first out in the early to mid 1950s Allentown Bethlehem and Easton set in the Lehigh Valley which with the transmitters of the day meant they couldn't get New York they couldn't get Philadelphia they could not get channels so they couldn't sell TVs so one of the major appliance sales companies actually started a cable company then more out of necessity but I'm willing to bet he had less complaints from cable they needed from the over-the-air at the time.
 
If there was a way for the most popular cable channels to be made available to those with digital antennas, that would be so awesome. You know, something like Me-TV or Bounce.

When European countries in general switched to DTT, in many of them that was actually what happened. So on that score you're onto something.
 
When European countries in general switched to DTT, in many of them that was actually what happened. So on that score you're onto something.

Here's what I'm talking about...sort of...

Let's say you have...

Channel 2: CBS
2.2 CBS Sports Network
2.3 Nickelodeon
2.4 MTV
2.5 Paramount Network
2.6 VH1

Channel 4: ABC
4.2 ESPN
4.3 Disney Channel
4.4 ESPN 2
4.5 Freeform

Channel 7: NBC
7.2 USA Network
7.3 SciFi Channel
7.4 NBC Sports Network
7.5 MSNBC

Channel 10: FOX
10.2 FX
10.3 Fox News
10.4 Regional Fox Sports channel
10.5 FXX
10.6 Fox Business

If TV was more like this, that would be awesome...at least in my opinion.
 
When TV channels were allocated in the US, the idea was to make two VHF channels available to as many people as possible. In the eastern and central time zones, NYC received seven and only five others had as many as five. So, there was no broadcast space for too many networks. Originally, there were four commercial networks, but Dumont went out of business in 1956 because there weren't enough available stations. Networking was also difficult because TV takes so many "talking paths" on the AT&T microwave relay systems. Stations were territorial, especially in rural areas. If a station wanted to move its transmitter 20 miles to get more viewers, another station could object to the FCC if the move would affect advertising revenue. Cable was likewise heavily regulated. Small city Pixley had one channel (it carried a lot of westerns, if you remember Green Acres). If Hooterville Cable wanted to bring in stations from St. Louis or Evansville, it would have to put the Pixley broadcast (with local advertising) over the imported channels. So, cable took effort and many systems today won't import distant stations that require substitution of local programming.
 
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Also, you have seriously underestimated the cost of laying cables. Do not forget that one need to get permissions from landlords and obtaining rights of way can be a significant hassle. Not counting costs needed to obtain rights of way
But as long as the cost is not ongoing, it may be possible to recoup it in a reasonable amount of time. With the technology of the time, the only way to control who could watch television broadcast over the air was through control of the equipment, as in the compulsory public subscription model, which only worked well where the broadcaster funded by the licence fee had a monopoly. The other model was the advertising model.
However, with cable, it was already a lot easier to control where broadcasts were received, which in turn would have allowed a subscriber supported service, could the subscription fee have made back the cost in a reasonable amount of time? That is the question.
Are you trying to say there are problems with installing the cable other than the price tag?

USA still has places that are not serviced by landline phone services until 2005
The surprises me.
 
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