"Got a Pop History/Pop Culture question from the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's?" Just askmrpophistory@mrpophistory.com

MGM Record Label

From Jeff L – Mr. Pop History – This site is great! I’m a big, big fan of early cable television. Thanks for all the new knowledge. Wasn’t there a pay-TV format that used TV stations to scramble a picture? How big did this ever get?

Mr. Pop History – It was called “Subscription TV” and used UHF stations. These stations had regular TV station licenses, so they usually broadcast a regular signal by day, and then at night, would scramble their signals to accommodate pay-TV subscribers. It was a good way to get premium TV into areas with little or no cable TV, but as soon as cable penetration hit a critical mass, goodbye went STV. The industry hit its peak during the early 1980’s when it boasted millions of subscribers. ON-TV in Los Angeles was the biggest. During their peak, they had some 360,000 paying subscribers. Here’s something I dug up from this site – back in 1981. It’ll give you a good rundown on the industry. Hope this helps!

From Mr. Pop History – Week of January 8, 1981 –
Pay-TV/Subscription television update - here’s a list of subscription television operations in the U.S. The format uses a UHF television station to transmit a scrambled picture over the air. Subscribers pay about $20 a month for a descrambler. It currently has an advantage in areas not covered by cable-TV.  All you need is a UHF antenna (which most TV’s have/or one is provided by the installer). The main disadvantage - it costs about the same as cable service - and cable offers dozens of channels. Usually as soon as cable is available, subscribers drop their STV service. Some companies are trying to cut deals to transmit over cable-TV.  The industry seems to be as strong as ever, generating more than $14 million in revenues per month.  (Subscription television eventually went away, but for a short period in pop history, it was the only way cable less viewers could see premium pay-TV programming). All of the television stations listed below eventually went back to unscrambled  programming. Many went Spanish-language.

Newark, NJ - Wometco Home Theater (Wometco Enterprises) - over WWHT channel 68
Long Island, NY - Wometco Home Theater (Wometco Enterprises) - over WSNL - channel 67  
Boston - Stargase (Universal Subscription Television) - over WQTV channel 68
Worcester - Preview (Sicom Corp) - over WSMW channel 27
Ft Lauderdale - On TV (Oak Industries) - over WKID channel 51
 Dallas - VIU (Golden West Broadcasters) - over KNBN - channel 33
Oklahoma City - VIU (Golden West Broadcasters) - over KAUT channel 43
Phoenix - On TV (Oak Industries) over KNXV channel 15
Los Angeles - On TV (Oak Industries) over KBSC - channel 52
Los Angeles - Select TV (Select TV of California) - over KWHY channel 22
San Francisco - Super Time - (Subscription Television of San Francisco) - over KTSF-TV channel 26
Milwaukee - Select TV (Select TV of Wisconsin) - over WCGV channel 24
Chicago - On TV (Oak Industries) - over WSNS channel 44
Cincinnati - On TV (Oak Industries) - over WBTI - channel 64

Detroit - On Television (Chartwell Communications/Tandem

Productions) - over WXON, Channel 20

Come back soon, as I answer, to the best of my knowledge, another one of your pop history/culture questions.