6 ms·

nope, cable was ad-free when I was a kid (also of the 80's). It's possible you were in an area with a shitty cable company, but many of us did not deal with ad

nope, cable was ad-free when I was a kid (also of the 80's). It's possible you were in an area with a shitty cable company, but many of us did not deal with ads while watching HBO, Cinemax, etc. There would sometimes be advertising between shows about other shows and while that's technically advertising it's not what people mean when they talk about ads (or the lack thereof). They're talking about interruption of content to show an advertisement. and yes, cable would also carry local channels, which had ads. No, that's not what people are referring to when they say cable did, or did not, have ads.

crazygringo 3y ago
No. When major cable channels like TBS and ESPN launched in 1979, they had regular commercials just like broadcast. (You can read their histories on Wikipedia.) There were some channels that didn't have ads at first -- e.g. Nickelodeon was ad-free when it launched in 1979, and added commercials in 1984. But there was never a time when basic cable was free of ads, meaning ads for products (not just other shows). Premium cable channels are ad-free (HBO, Cinemax), but that's not cable. That's premium. You had to pay extra for that, on top of your basic cable subscription.
- Supermancho 3y ago
  > that's not cable. That's premium. Moving the goalpost is not compelling. Yes, national cable stations were commercial free for years (eg Z Channel^1, HBO, Showtime, et al), before every channel was advertised as being on cable, in a marketing shift to shift away from over-the-air broadcast and bundle programming rates. TBS was regional (Atlanta, Georgia^3), when it started off. The niche market of TBS was not industry defining anymore than my local bakery's donut deal is. This was a shift in terminology, but the history remains^2. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Channel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Channel [2] https://www.everything80spodcast.com/hbo-showtime-the-rapid-growth-of-cable-tv/ https://www.everything80spodcast.com/hbo-showtime-the-rapid-... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBS_(American_TV_channel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBS_(American_TV_channel)
  - vel0city 3y ago
    You're the one moving the goalposts to make cable mean only HBO and Showtime. Cable existed for decades before HBO launched, and HBO wasn't even the first cable-only channel. Cable's original pros was absolutely not about freedom from ads, no matter how you slice it.
    - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - dragonwriter 3y ago
        No one is denying that you could buy premium services on top of cable that were ad free. The claim that was being denied was that “cable used to be ad free”, and specifically used as a basis for lamenting an evolving standard where the basic tier of streaming services are ad supported. Aside from not being the claim you have moved the goalposts to, it was made in a context where the ine you’ve moved the goalposts to would make no sense.
      - vel0city 3y ago
        Many many people say the earth is flat and the moon landing was faked. I guess I should ignore all the evidence and my own lived experience otherwise and listen. Cable had ads from the beginning. A few channels that came out decades later doesn't invalidate that fact. Even then, the first few cable-only channels had ads. Then on top of that the vast majority of cable-only channels had ads, only a select few didn't. It's revisionist history saying cable didn't have ads.
        PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
        > Many many people say the earth is flat and the moon landing was faked. you're going to have to define many here because I don't think your definition and mine align. > Cable had ads from the beginning. No, cable carried local channels from the beginning and local channels had ads because local channels were typically broadcast over the air to television sets with antenna of some sort (aka "rabbit ears": https://www.amazon.com/Wideskall-Universal-Indoor-Antenna-Coaxial/dp/B06XNM326N/keywords=rabbit+ears+tv+antenna&sr=8-11 https://www.amazon.com/Wideskall-Universal-Indoor-Antenna-Co...). What you're essentially saying here is that the vast majority of cable channels would _interrupt_ their programming to show ads. That was not my experience nor the experience of most people. This is all just one big ass "well akshually..."

crazygringo 3y ago

No. When major cable channels like TBS and ESPN launched in 1979, they had regular commercials just like broadcast. (You can read their histories on Wikipedia.) There were some channels that didn't have ads at first -- e.g. Nickelodeon was ad-free when it launched in 1979, and added commercials in 1984. But there was never a time when basic cable was free of ads, meaning ads for products (not just other shows). Premium cable channels are ad-free (HBO, Cinemax), but that's not cable. That's premium. You had to pay extra for that, on top of your basic cable subscription.

Supermancho 3y ago
> that's not cable. That's premium. Moving the goalpost is not compelling. Yes, national cable stations were commercial free for years (eg Z Channel^1, HBO, Showtime, et al), before every channel was advertised as being on cable, in a marketing shift to shift away from over-the-air broadcast and bundle programming rates. TBS was regional (Atlanta, Georgia^3), when it started off. The niche market of TBS was not industry defining anymore than my local bakery's donut deal is. This was a shift in terminology, but the history remains^2. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Channel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Channel [2] https://www.everything80spodcast.com/hbo-showtime-the-rapid-growth-of-cable-tv/ https://www.everything80spodcast.com/hbo-showtime-the-rapid-... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBS_(American_TV_channel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBS_(American_TV_channel)
- vel0city 3y ago
  You're the one moving the goalposts to make cable mean only HBO and Showtime. Cable existed for decades before HBO launched, and HBO wasn't even the first cable-only channel. Cable's original pros was absolutely not about freedom from ads, no matter how you slice it.
  - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - dragonwriter 3y ago
      No one is denying that you could buy premium services on top of cable that were ad free. The claim that was being denied was that “cable used to be ad free”, and specifically used as a basis for lamenting an evolving standard where the basic tier of streaming services are ad supported. Aside from not being the claim you have moved the goalposts to, it was made in a context where the ine you’ve moved the goalposts to would make no sense.
    - vel0city 3y ago
      Many many people say the earth is flat and the moon landing was faked. I guess I should ignore all the evidence and my own lived experience otherwise and listen. Cable had ads from the beginning. A few channels that came out decades later doesn't invalidate that fact. Even then, the first few cable-only channels had ads. Then on top of that the vast majority of cable-only channels had ads, only a select few didn't. It's revisionist history saying cable didn't have ads.
      - PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
        > Many many people say the earth is flat and the moon landing was faked. you're going to have to define many here because I don't think your definition and mine align. > Cable had ads from the beginning. No, cable carried local channels from the beginning and local channels had ads because local channels were typically broadcast over the air to television sets with antenna of some sort (aka "rabbit ears": https://www.amazon.com/Wideskall-Universal-Indoor-Antenna-Coaxial/dp/B06XNM326N/keywords=rabbit+ears+tv+antenna&sr=8-11 https://www.amazon.com/Wideskall-Universal-Indoor-Antenna-Co...). What you're essentially saying here is that the vast majority of cable channels would _interrupt_ their programming to show ads. That was not my experience nor the experience of most people. This is all just one big ass "well akshually..."