Preview Subscription Television in the Scrambled Mode IMPRO

[marc1178]

My local cable co. used the Zenith SSAVI. I think it was very common here in North America.

[bradhig]

KNDL 30 in st louis had that service and the picture got that scrambled.

[Eddie62070]

I remember that, growing up in eastern-Mass

[homeofthebadguys]

what happens if you put the decoder in the video OUT instead of IN?

[flycar817]

WOW does this bring back memories. Thanks for posting!

[Kargaroc286]

huh, I believe cable TV destroyed OTA STV. Other wise, they would of been gone long before 1985

[mbrstooge]

BTW, what are those white boxes in the black line at 1:25? I'm sure they're probably used for scrambling/decoding, but I need to verify for sure.

[somethinsuavetheater]

@mbrstooge That line is the bottom of the picture while scrambled.

[HunterM28025]

1:17 LOL..zzzzLzzzzzzzzzozzozozoozo­oozzzzl.

[kaddursal]

I never got Preview, or Star TV. I wish I did back then. I even remember Preview doing a test with authentic sound and while it was in the scambled mode on my old analog TV. Saying:"Preview is conducting a test..." I also remember hearing a spokes person from Channel 27 saying during the scrambled mode:"Food, Fun, Excitement!"

[Cinemax1980]

Videoholic 1980s has the Preview Test on his channel,check it out,it's cool.

[RetroBoyisBack]

I remember at the encryption change-over every night PRAYING that it wouldn't scramble. Once in a while, you'd get lucky.

[rep0eagle]

I always remember seeing these channels on the lineup, and then around 2001 and 2002 when digital took over they dropped them all and relocated them to channels in the high 200's+

[bennybytes]

This is awesome! I love scrambled tv.. Wonderful art! Thanx for uploading.

[mbrstooge]

I still remember those days seeing the "scrambled picture" of the PPV & premium channels from the 1990s to 2002.

I love the fact that they played "Catching The Sun" by Spyro Gyra on the first minute and 15 seconds.

[kargaroc386]

skiggly, what's the thing at the end?

[skiggley]

That is a Preview slide that was recorded onto the tape I used. Preview must have been broadcasting it either before sign-off or early in the morning or during some dead air time.

[KamionRenokai]

This looks just like OnTV's alternate audio trick and Tele1st if it was stuck in the inverted video mode. I wonder why nobody thought to use the Tele1st audio scrambler along with Videocrypt? It would've been fun to see pirates try to unscramble that!

[skiggley]

A little history - Preview/WSMW TV 27 went to subscription TV in September of 1980. At the time, Zenith SSAVI was considered to be sophisticated enough to thwart pirates. Once committed, they had to stick to SSAVI. Over time, pirates broke SSAVI. It was not cost effective to change all subscriber hardware so SSAVI was the standard until STV in general bit the dust.

[kargaroc386]

you are forgetting that cable tv was also a contributed to the death of OTA STV

[Cinemax1980]

Preview started earlier in Worcester,I don't Think we got Preview in Cleveland til early 81.When did Preview End In Worcester?

[kargaroc386]

pirates and cable tv