I should have phrased the question "how many channels did you have". Most people in this community grew up during the 80s and back then satellite wasn't nearly as popular as it is today. The two main choices were either cable or regular antennae so I didn't feel a need to specify satellite as well.
I was born in 1981 and so grew up in the late 80s/early 90s. We had a satellite in our backyard in the 70s, but they figured it would be too difficult for me to use when I was really little. We gave up on cable as we realised it was pointless when we could use the satellite for free anyway and that I was in fact smart enough to figure out how to work it. :)
Oh and for the actual question of how many channels... the cable box was that old fashioned thing with the buttons and the switch. Each button controlled three channels which is where the switch came in. The switch had up, down, and middle. I *think* there were 10 buttons (thus 30 channels), but don't hold me to that.
The satellite was pretty infinite since you could get all the feeds from all the channels including east and west coast, plus all the direct feeds from the networks etc. Since my Dad worked in TV, he knew what all the channels were so I would watch tv shows weeks in advance since the TV stations would tape them and wait until the appropriate air date. :) I was such a dork. Used to drive my friends NUTS since I had already seen the shows before they did. :)
I don't think there was such a thing as cable when I was a kid growing up in the '60s and '70s. We got our first color TV in 1972, to watch the Olympics.
That's neat. It's also kind of saddening in a way, the innocence of that. A family getting really excited about the Olympics and buying a new TV to watch it all together.
That's what I liked the generation before the Baby Boomers, they were very wholesome and society oriented.
My parents generation, the kids that grew up during the depression and WWII, really did tend to be family-oriented and responsible. They grew up internalizing the need to sacrifice their own desires for the greater good.
I was born at the very end of the baby boom, in 1960. When I was very young, we had just 4 channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS). Then we moved to St. Louis where there was a local channel too (KPLR), and eventually a couple more local broadcast channels.
My Dad's grandmother got a TV in 1952, just before he graduated high school. His parents didn't get one for years, though. The first television he owned himself was the one he bought with my Mom after they were married. My Mom's family got a TV in 1952 as well, but she was still in high school.
I am part of the baby boomers. We had the same values. As a child, I had one show my mom would let me watch. It was geared for kids, it was a do-it-yourself kiddie projects type show local in Chicago (Miss Francis). When it was over, the tv was turned OFF. (What a concept)
Heh heh, thanks for the good laugh. No, no cable TV. I actually think I was about middle-school-aged when we got color TV. It was still a notable feature for shows to advertise that they were in "living color"! We had the rabbit ears and the little round dohicky antennae; the TV had separate tuners for VHF and UHF. :-)
Actually, my parents still don't have cable or satellite. But we (my husband and I) have high-def satellite, Tivo, plasma TV, et al.
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The satellite was pretty infinite since you could get all the feeds from all the channels including east and west coast, plus all the direct feeds from the networks etc. Since my Dad worked in TV, he knew what all the channels were so I would watch tv shows weeks in advance since the TV stations would tape them and wait until the appropriate air date. :) I was such a dork. Used to drive my friends NUTS since I had already seen the shows before they did. :)
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That's what I liked the generation before the Baby Boomers, they were very wholesome and society oriented.
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I was born at the very end of the baby boom, in 1960. When I was very young, we had just 4 channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS). Then we moved to St. Louis where there was a local channel too (KPLR), and eventually a couple more local broadcast channels.
My Dad's grandmother got a TV in 1952, just before he graduated high school. His parents didn't get one for years, though. The first television he owned himself was the one he bought with my Mom after they were married. My Mom's family got a TV in 1952 as well, but she was still in high school.
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Actually, my parents still don't have cable or satellite. But we (my husband and I) have high-def satellite, Tivo, plasma TV, et al.
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