the first cable stations were OTA (network) stations from major cities being served to rural areas. those had ads.
the first cable-specific channel was TBS which was just a converted Atlanta NBC channel that also had ads.
as basic cable grew, new channels launched with ads.
Premium channels like HBO launched in the 70s without ads but afaik those channels are still ad-free except self-promotion between shows.
Well, not everyone lives in the US or has the same timeline or window of experience. I should have made the relativism of my statement more clear, though it was touched on briefly.
I don’t think my “window of experience” has any impact on the objective reality that cable had ads from square 1.
that’s patently untrue.
the first cable stations were OTA (network) stations from major cities being served to rural areas. those had ads.
the first cable-specific channel was TBS which was just a converted Atlanta NBC channel that also had ads.
as basic cable grew, new channels launched with ads.
Premium channels like HBO launched in the 70s without ads but afaik those channels are still ad-free except self-promotion between shows.
Well, not everyone lives in the US or has the same timeline or window of experience. I should have made the relativism of my statement more clear, though it was touched on briefly.
I don’t think my “window of experience” has any impact on the objective reality that cable had ads from square 1.