Stop Cable TV - 1969 ad against pay television

My love of television was no doubt fueled by the fact that I grew up in one of the first communities in the USA to have cable TV. The Triad area of North Carolina was chosen because the concept was a no-brainer for a city like New York of Chicago but would people in the fly-over states actually pay for something they were essentially getting for free? An aggressive campaign against cable TV was waged, there was even an ad that ran with the previews before the movies that warned of the slippery slope that would come with the dreaded wire.

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Entertainment

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• Stop Cable TV
• 1969 ad against cable TV

[Marvcohen]

That monster sure got out of control over the years

[Godzie1]

Television was better when it was free. Now I am paying $189.00 a month for cable internet & phone survice, Man I remember seeing this comercial on tv back in the 70s. They had great programming from prime time to the horror shows on Friday & Saturday nights w/very few commercials and now they have you pay up the ass just to watch infomercials! :P

[piczogame]

I like cerial.

[Huboons]

"this discussion was about the fact that we now pay more for cable than we ever did for ariel" Actually no, you claimed it was free. I've been educating you on how it has never been free.

[gaIIery]

@Hubba-Bubba "No, the bureaucracy that controls the public airwaves that the private companies have to beg for permission to use, does." Yes, that's the way it's always been. BUT, this discussion was about the fact that we now pay more for cable than we ever did for ariel. If you want CNN, you must pay for stations you used to get off ariel for peanuts. That is the point that you are pretending not to see because trolling turns you on, doesn't it, you naughty thing? ;)

[Huboons]

@gaIIery "They don't get money from taxes" No, the bureaucracy that controls the public airwaves that the private companies have to beg for permission to use does. Productive people pay those taxes. You also do not seem to have any understanding of the concept of value. Its a pretty important concept to understand if you ever want to have more than a child's understanding of financial or economic subjects, but I suspect even if you were capable, you aren't really interested.

[gaIIery]

@Huboons Ofcourse networks are privately owned, Troll (there's even a station near me that states their transmitter is owned and operated by their parent company). They don't get money from taxes; they get it from advertisers who, incredibly, you seem to feel sorry for that they have to pay for valuable commercial time. And, if you presently even watch cable, you can't possibly suggest that you're not now paying far more for tv than you were in the 80's. BTW, are you hard right now?

[Huboons]

@gaIIery Pointing out other areas that cost more in taxation does not negate the fact that you wrong about TV being free. Secondly, pre-cable networks are also "privately owned" (property ownership being something you clearly despise), that is irrelevant to the fact that they are regulated, and that regulation is paid for by the productive people who also pay your welfare. Lastly, no one is forcing you to buy cable TV, you ARE forced to pay taxes. Please do wake the fuck up.

[gaIIery]

@Huboons Yes, you're correct that a portion of tax dollars goes to stuff like Cable Access & the FCC which oversees network standards & practices (fining CBS for airing Janet Jackson's nipple, for example). But that's nowhere near what you pay for something like local school taxes. The biggest increase in what you're paying for TV now is undoubtedly going to the privately-owned cable companies who charge you for watching channels 2 - 13, which 25 years ago you could see for pennies. 

[Huboons]

@gaIIery "Do you think NBC operates on money collected by Uncle Sam?" Communications are regulated in most countries by the government. The massive bureaucracy required to organize and and control the various forms of communication costs money. Governments pay for such things via taxation. Which is money that people (not you of course) have taken from them by that government.

[gaIIery]

@Huboons But Troll, you said earlier that TV "was paid for by advertisers." Now you're saying it's tax dollars? Do you think NBC operates on money collected by Uncle Sam? And I said originally that we are now paying for entertainment that before never came with a monthly bill. Never made any "moral declaration that we are all paying for something that should be free". You're arguing with so many posters you can't even keep them all straight.

[Huboons]

@gaIIery Uh numbnuts. Where do you think the money came from to broadcast over the public airwaves in your country? The magic TV money fairies? No it came from tax dollars. Granted, someone as stupid as you appear to be probably doesn't earn enough to pay taxes but someone else was paying for it. So it was never free.