Basic cable has always had commercials along with the over the air channels. Premium channels didn’t.
Yep, cable was first used to allow people to watch the same channels that were available over the air just from a more locations than what was available via antenna at their home (and with better reception), so it had the same commercials.
Premium channels were commercial-less for 7 or 9 years (can't remember exactly) before the first premium channel decided to start running adverts.
There also used to be product placement ads during the shows too. I feel like that’s also more insidious when Jed Clampett and Granny are telling you every episode to smoke a Winston and eat Kellogg’s.
You're right. I guess I was remembering premium channels and some niche channels that were cable-only. Most channels available on early cable were just piping non-local broadcast channels down a cable.
Basic cable has always had commercials along with the over the air channels. Premium channels didn’t.
Yep, cable was first used to allow people to watch the same channels that were available over the air just from a more locations than what was available via antenna at their home (and with better reception), so it had the same commercials.
Premium channels were commercial-less for 7 or 9 years (can't remember exactly) before the first premium channel decided to start running adverts.
There also used to be product placement ads during the shows too. I feel like that’s also more insidious when Jed Clampett and Granny are telling you every episode to smoke a Winston and eat Kellogg’s.
You're right. I guess I was remembering premium channels and some niche channels that were cable-only. Most channels available on early cable were just piping non-local broadcast channels down a cable.