this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
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I feel like you weren't there, in that time and place. Or maybe you were in some weird pocket where OTA wasn't available? Can't remember anyone bitching about lack of antennae service. Yeah, it could be sketchy, but I think most of us could drag in ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS.
I grew up in the 70's and had cable TV as soon as long as I could remember and it was the exact same broadcasts people that lived in DC or Baltimore got, we just got them from cable since the mountains we lived in prevented any OTA from getting through. And I am pretty sure I wasn't alone with my cable TV.
In 1968, 6.4% of Americans had cable television. The number increased to 7.5% in 1978. By 1988, 52.8% of all households were using cable. The number further increased to 62.4% in 1994. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television)
I think one could argue they invented cable TV so that more people could see ads, not to stop showing ads.
Well radio was originally mostly about advertising, and when TV came around it was just gonna be radio but with moving pictures! So yeah, it was about spreading more advertisements around to more people.