Those of you who had cable systems that preempted Nickelodeon… - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Frank Gannucci · 12-21-2021, 10:45 PM

… what are your memories?

From 1980-1990, my cable system up north (now Alice USA of Oakland, NJ), had A&E on from 8p-6a. I hated this because at times, they preempted many Nick specials that Nick showed at 8p as well as the second half-hour of Looney Tunes on the weekends. Also, during the mornings, I would turn on Nick only to find A&E because apparently somebody at the cable system fell asleep at the switch (LOL!). .I remember being angry when I fo7nd out that Nick was ending early on New Years Eve in 1989 at 11;30a just so N@N can do their Rerun Countdown. If social media and the Internet and if me being web savvy were around then, I would have complained online that Nick went downhill. Ha! But in my area, the rerun countdown ended at 8p and not 12a like the rest of the country. I had a grandmother who lived in Belmar and her cable system had Nick on 24/7 and my Aunt & Uncle at the time lived in Montvale, NJ also had Nick 24/7. I was so jealous of them (LOL) although I am pretty sure they didn’t care one iota even though the 8p-6a hours were geared toward retro programming.

My prayers were answered in 1990 when my mother somehow found out that Nick was being expanded to 24 hours. Our old Monthly TV guide magazine (remember those?) called Preview in their channel lineup section said in advertisement that Nick was going to be full time on channel 21. It said: “Tune into the channel all day for your favorite shows.” Yet in the channel lineup, it said it was going to be shown part time with MSG 2 (a sports overflow channel). Perhaps my cable system was going to put Nick on 24/7 yet changed their minds. This became an issue when I wanted to record an episode of a TV show that I thought was going to air but wasn’t sure. Remember back than, there were no such things as on screen guides and there was no Internet as well as no such things as HD feeds, so I asked my Aunt in Montvale to record it for me and I explained the situation. I even sent a letter to my cable company and complained. They kindly responded by saying that they were going to expand their lineup to 50 plus channels. (Remember this was the early 90s.) the expansion was going to take place in 1994. Fortunately, it ended up taking place on August 31, 1993 and Nick was expanded to 24 hours.

Mace Dolex · 12-25-2021, 01:04 AM

I would experience something like that not necessarily with Nickelodeon but with other stations, I lived in Bakersfield, CA in the early 90's and we had Warner Cable and same thing I'd watch the Prevue Guide for upcoming programming but during certain hours regular programming would be pre-empted by local affiliates.

Mace Dolex · 12-25-2021, 01:05 AM

Double post

eng51squad51 · 12-28-2021, 10:27 PM

Back during that Time my Cable system back then also air A&E in PrimeTime instead of Nick at night. then Later on they expanded the channels and Move A&E to it own channel and then let Nickoloden Nick at night air in prime time

I think reason they share a Network on same channel with another network is they didn't have enought channels available back then

cable system today are digital instead of Analog where they can compress the signal and allow many channels.

stevea · 12-28-2021, 11:05 PM

Yes, I remember this, probably in the 1980s. You'd see The Donna Reed Show start and it would cut abruptly to A&E, probably.

At least this was back when A&E wasn't all garbage reality like now--they had stuff like An Evening at the Improv, where comedians could get their start. Some of them were pretty good.

Smith121 · 01-07-2022, 02:31 AM

I would experience something like that they didn't have enough channels available back then in the early 90's when it was liteblue

12-21-2021, 10:45 PM	#1
Frank Gannucci Member Forum Star Join Date: Mar 05, 2007 Posts: 16,131	Those of you who had cable systems that preempted Nickelodeon… … what are your memories? From 1980-1990, my cable system up north (now Alice USA of Oakland, NJ), had A&E on from 8p-6a. I hated this because at times, they preempted many Nick specials that Nick showed at 8p as well as the second half-hour of Looney Tunes on the weekends. Also, during the mornings, I would turn on Nick only to find A&E because apparently somebody at the cable system fell asleep at the switch (LOL!). .I remember being angry when I fo7nd out that Nick was ending early on New Years Eve in 1989 at 11;30a just so N@N can do their Rerun Countdown. If social media and the Internet and if me being web savvy were around then, I would have complained online that Nick went downhill. Ha! But in my area, the rerun countdown ended at 8p and not 12a like the rest of the country. I had a grandmother who lived in Belmar and her cable system had Nick on 24/7 and my Aunt & Uncle at the time lived in Montvale, NJ also had Nick 24/7. I was so jealous of them (LOL) although I am pretty sure they didn’t care one iota even though the 8p-6a hours were geared toward retro programming. My prayers were answered in 1990 when my mother somehow found out that Nick was being expanded to 24 hours. Our old Monthly TV guide magazine (remember those?) called Preview in their channel lineup section said in advertisement that Nick was going to be full time on channel 21. It said: “Tune into the channel all day for your favorite shows.” Yet in the channel lineup, it said it was going to be shown part time with MSG 2 (a sports overflow channel). Perhaps my cable system was going to put Nick on 24/7 yet changed their minds. This became an issue when I wanted to record an episode of a TV show that I thought was going to air but wasn’t sure. Remember back than, there were no such things as on screen guides and there was no Internet as well as no such things as HD feeds, so I asked my Aunt in Montvale to record it for me and I explained the situation. I even sent a letter to my cable company and complained. They kindly responded by saying that they were going to expand their lineup to 50 plus channels. (Remember this was the early 90s.) the expansion was going to take place in 1994. Fortunately, it ended up taking place on August 31, 1993 and Nick was expanded to 24 hours.

01-07-2022, 02:31 AM	#6
Smith121 Member First Time Poster Join Date: Jan 07, 2022 Posts: 1	I would experience something like that they didn't have enough channels available back then in the early 90's when it was liteblue
	Last edited by Smith121; 01-07-2022 at 11:53 PM.

12-25-2021, 01:04 AM	#2
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,670	I would experience something like that not necessarily with Nickelodeon but with other stations, I lived in Bakersfield, CA in the early 90's and we had Warner Cable and same thing I'd watch the Prevue Guide for upcoming programming but during certain hours regular programming would be pre-empted by local affiliates.

12-25-2021, 01:05 AM	#3
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,670	Double post

12-28-2021, 10:27 PM	#4
eng51squad51 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 17, 2002 Location: SC Posts: 978	Back during that Time my Cable system back then also air A&E in PrimeTime instead of Nick at night. then Later on they expanded the channels and Move A&E to it own channel and then let Nickoloden Nick at night air in prime time I think reason they share a Network on same channel with another network is they didn't have enought channels available back then cable system today are digital instead of Analog where they can compress the signal and allow many channels.

12-28-2021, 11:05 PM	#5
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 45,126	Yes, I remember this, probably in the 1980s. You'd see The Donna Reed Show start and it would cut abruptly to A&E, probably. At least this was back when A&E wasn't all garbage reality like now--they had stuff like An Evening at the Improv, where comedians could get their start. Some of them were pretty good.