What Networks did you get ---Back in the day

[Mikey]

First off, had the roof antenna pointed straight toward the Empire State Building …………

Got NBC, ABC, WPIX (of course), WNYW (Fox today) and lastly WWOR-TV (Cannel 9)

One channel I could never get to come in was CBS

It was always snowy-schittt

Even went up the roof and moved the antenna to get Philly Stations

Same thing

[Earth 2 Chris]

We got ABC, CBS and NBC from both Lexington, KY and Cincinnati, OH. So while the network shows were the same, we got some variety in the syndicated hours stuff. Reception was always pretty good.

We had channel 19 out of Cinci as well. Later we got Channel 56 out of Lexington. They both eventually became Fox channels.

We also had PBS, which was KET (Kentucky Educational Television).

Cable came to our town in 1984, and thankfully my family jumped on board right away.

Chris

[Makernaut]

Got the local affiliates for NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS out of Oklahoma City and with the exception of one, they all have the same call letters as they did in my earliest memory of them. A few UHF stations came along when I was hitting middle school and then about 1980, we had a cable system come in so that added WGN and TBS to the mix and it grew from there as more cable networks were added over the next few years.

[MRP]

Growing up mostly in CT, we got CBS out of Hartford, NBC out of New Britain (and out of Springfield, MA when we lived in northern CT), and ABC out of New Haven (and again out of Springfield, MA at times). There was a PBS station out of Hartford (and occasionally one out of Springfield again). There was an indy UHF channel (#18 on the dial) I remember when I was very young, but it went belly up by the time I was 7 or 8.

When I was 11 (circa '80), we moved to Maine and got cable for the first time-but all basic cable had were the three networks and PBS (mostly out of Bangor, ME, but a few out of Augusta) plus WLVI (Ch 56) out of Boston and WSBK (Ch. 38) out of Boston. There were premium things like HBO and Movie Channel, but those were out of our budget for the most part (we had like a free trial for a month or two then got rid of them as they were more than my folks could afford).

When we moved back to CT when I was 13 (circa '82), two new indy UHF stations had started, Channel 20 and Channel 61 (which later became a Fox affiliate when Fox network launched), plus the standard 3 majors and PBS we had before. At that point, my folks had cable in the living room, but I had a set in my room that was antennae reception only. Luckily this was a time when both PBS stations were running Dr. Who (Pertwee on one, Peter Davisdon on the other) and the BBC Robin Hood series, and the indy channels had a great mix of classic movies, so I usually found something interesting to watch despite not having cable in my room. When they weren't home, most of my TV watching on cable then revolved around MTV.

-M

[ToyTalk]

ABC, CBS, NBC and if we were lucky on a clear day, PBS. That's it. All of them had "snowy-schittt" (Mikey, LOL). We didn't watch very much TV back then. Mostly just played outside.

[Mikey]

Back in the day, PBS was great for kids programming Sesame St etc...

But WNJN New Jersey Network Was GREAT for British shows never seen on USA TV.

Remember watching hours of full episodes of Doctor Who on Saturday nights.

NJN even did a meet Dr Who stint in King of Prussia in the 80's

Only Dr Who I ever shook hands with --- Colin Baker

Nicest guy you'd ever meet

[LonnieFisher]

ABC, CBS, NBC, KPTV and PBS.

[Bruce Banner]

ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CBC...
We had a giant rotary antenna which was rotated via a control dial.

[Nostalgiabuff]

living in the NE like Mike, i got those same channels. as I recall channel 9 and 11 were the ones that had the syndicated shows. my folks didn't have much money so we never had the cable channels like MTV growing up. we did finally get HBO at some point in the mid to late eighties. i remember always being so happy when there were free HBO weekends

[Mikey]

living in the NE like Mike, i got those same channels. …….

Remember PIX PIX PIX !!!!?

Kids on a call-in to channel 11 playing a video game LIVE

Another one, the WPIX guy that was sent out to NYC to find a symbol for their channel 11 logo ?

He never could find the ultimate symbol --- The World Trade Center !!!

I soooo always wanted to punch that guy in the face

[Captain]

Living in rural Alberta, we got CFAC ( a CTV affiliate) and CFAC channel 2, which was a local private Calgary station until they became part of the Global network in the early nineties. Also had CBC.

[RonnyG]

I was lucky growing up watching TV. My hometown was Port Huron, Michigan, which is just a stone's throw away to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. We could pick up a few of the Canadian channels like ABC, so I remember getting to watch first-run shows like The Bionic Woman and Charlie's Angels twice in one night!
I think the Canadians were in a different time zone so they were a couple hours ahead of us. I remember watching The Bionic Woman at 7:00 on Canadian ABC, and then re-watching it again a couple hours later on ABC USA. The same with Charlie's Angels, and I'm sure there were other programs, too, but those are the two shows I loved the most.
That was a big plus back then because VCRs were not a common household item back in the seventies, so you would normally have to wait to watch them again when they were rerun in the summer.

[apes3978]

We had CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS... Then we got an independent station (WLRE), and after that, yet another local independent (whose call letters I can't recall at the moment)...

During those years, ownership of networks changed, so so did what channel was an affiliate of which network. For instance, I can remember when channel 2 was a CBS affiliate, nowadays they're ABC. One of the independents became the affiliate for the fledgling FOX, but due to buyouts and whatnot, nowadays, they're the CW and the station that at one time was NBC is now FOX. There were other network changes, but you get the drift, and I'm sure a lot of you had the same thing happen in your locale.

Also, on days when the conditions were right, we could pick up a channel from Chicago, but it was quite snowy.

[Mikey]

Of all my local (NY, NJ, Pa) independent TV stations growing up as a kid ……. I think only channel 69 WFMZ Allentown has remained what it was.

Eve Russo and Jaciel Cordoba --- You make all my mornings pleasant

[apes3978]

Remember PIX PIX PIX !!!!?

Kids on a call-in to channel 11 playing a video game LIVE

There was something similar around here with a weird little animated host of an afternoon show called "Clubhouse Pow" if I remember correctly...

Kids would call in and say "Pow" every time they wanted to shoot.