Did you grow up in a one/two station area?

[installLSC]

Well into the 70s, there were areas of the U.S. that only got one or two TV stations. If you grew up or lived in one of these areas, do you remember how the networks were split up in your area? How aware were you of shows that weren't broadcast in your area? And what notable shows were you not able to see?

[Mace Dolex]

While living in Bakersfield in the 80's they only had 4 stations, of which 3 were of the major networks at the time ABC, NBC, CBS (Fox was still a few years away) and the fourth was an independent station.

But somehow I guess my dad paid a bit more to get the remaining stations from Los Angeles which amounted to 4 extra independant stations so there was a lot of variety of TV shows to watch.

Originally Posted by installLSC

How aware were you of shows that weren't broadcast in your area?

Fortunately I was a TV junkie so I always had my TV Guide beside me, and was aware that you had to pay a bit more for the cable stations like HBO, TBS, USA, Showtime, MTV.

And what notable shows were you not able to see?

I would say except for whatever original content the premium channels were offering that I missed out on I was lucky to have the 3 major networks and was able to see pretty much whatever show caught my eye.

And for a kid at least for me I was able to watch every concievable toy based cartoon that was on from the popular to the obscure (G.I.Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Challenge Of The GoBots, Robotech, Voltron, Jayce & The Wheeled Warriors, M.A.S.K., He-Man, Bravestarr, Spiral Zone, Centurions, Inhumanoids, Rambo)

[Regulus]

Prior to 1969 my Maternal Grandparents lived along the shores of Lake Huron between Alpena and Bay City. Michigan. The had a 50 foot antenna, from which you could get TWO TV Stations, and an NBC Affiliate in Bay City and an NBC Affiliate in Alpena.

In 1969 they subscribed to cable, and they had all three broadcast networks, as well as PBS, Three Independent stations (All from Detroit) and the CBC Station in Windsor, Ontario.

They also had a "Weather Channel" that consisted of a clock, a thermometer, a barometer, and an aeronometer mounted on a board. A camera would pan these back and forth while muzac played in the background.

In 1974 this channel actually made national news when pranksters from a local High School broke into the building which housed the set up and pasted centerfolds over the dials, at each side was posted a message that read "The Class of 1974 Presents". Naturally they chose a Holiday Weekend when nobody was at the cable headquarters.

[UMFaninMD]

Originally Posted by installLSC

Well into the 70s, there were areas of the U.S. that only got one or two TV stations. If you grew up or lived in one of these areas, do you remember how the networks were split up in your area? How aware were you of shows that weren't broadcast in your area? And what notable shows were you not able to see?

We didn't get cable until the 80's so we only had ABC, CBS, NBC and the Baltimore independent, WBFF, Channel 45. and Sometimes Channel 7, WJLA and Channel 20, WDCA from Washington DC would come in. There was never a shortage of things to watch. The cartoon blocks and movies were on all weekend and of course the classic TV shows.

Whatever I missed was on pay-TV, however when I used to spend weekends with my mom (I lived with my grandparents and my mom worked nightshifts as a bartender and waitress) she had HBO. I would stay up late and watch the "adult" content, like Animal House!

[factsoflife]

We always had cable in our house as long as I can remember. We never missed anything, with the exception of premium channels like HBO and Showtime which were extra.

[noveel]

Did you live in an area where the stations pre-empted everything but the highest rated shows?
http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/kcit50/

[Yong Fang]

Memphis did not have three channels until 1956. The oldest station was WMC TV 5. The CBS affiliate was (oddly) last one added. The NBC affiliate actually was the one who showed I Love Lucy, which I think is interesting. Stayed at three wi PBS until the 1980s when two new stations appeared in the once mysterious UHF dial. For some reason, ABC and Fox traded stations, which probably still confuses the older people. Dunno.

My parents and I went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, in the early 1980s and the hotel had no television in the rooms. There to see large hole in the ground not TV.

[broadmoor]

In the 1970s, I did have three channels, covering the three primary networks. But during the summers, I'd have long visits/stays with my grandparents who lived in a more rural vicinity, and they could only pick up a single channel. That channel seemed a crazy-quilt composite of all three networks. I don't recall which network's nightly news broadcasts were accessed, which would probably be reflective of which network they were most closely alligned with. Sometimes certain nighttime series were bumped from their normal time-slots, and aired at some unusual time-period, like on a late Saturday afternoon, or perhaps late on a Sunday night after the local news.

Occasionally I'd be camping with my folks, and we carried a small tv-set in the trailer, but really couldn't pick up ANY channel during the day. At night, the reception usually improved, allowing a single (and rather snowy-looking) channel to come in. I recall watching "Johnny Carson" many times this way, with that dim, snowy signal.

Seems rather amazing, in retrospect, just how dis-connected and 'un-wired' you could be from not just the culture, but the whole sense of the outside world back then. No internet, no cell phones, no satellite-tv, etc. And television stations still had much more of a local flavor. It made the country seem a much larger and more varied place. Traveling to a different locality (and encountering its tv-stations and their own unique personalities and syndicated fare) used to resonate more, in that sense. Nowadays, there's a numbingly omnipresent sameness to everything. It's taken away a certain wonderment that used to arise from the notions of a larger, more varied and more unexplored world that existed around us. As grateful as I am for the many, many advancements in technology (including the 200 tv-dvd sets I have in my bookcase, allowing me to watch rare favorites when and where I want!), I do sometimes look back wistfully on that earlier time.

[Tubehead]

when I was little I remember we only had 3 TV stations 3 9 and 12. then later on when I got teenager we got more channels later one the cable company would show previews of hbo for free so we had our vcr and we would tape movies that hbo showed it lasted almost a month. we also got cartoon network and show time and Disney. they would all last a month me and my family would tape Disney cartoons growing up. then my aunt Gayle she was from Florida and she had Disney channel my grand mama before she died she would go vists my aunt Gayle she would tape us Disney cartoons for us to watch.

[DSfan]

I grew up in the 90s and didn't have cable until I was 7. Living in Canada, without cable, we got ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, UPN (although a very fuzzy reception), 2 PBS stations, and then the Canadian CBC, CTV (CFCF in the 90s), and also Global and CH (which is now metro14 or something..)

There were also a few French stations but I never paid them any attention lol