CABLE TV - In these days of a hundred something channels on cable television and dozens more on satellite television it is hard to imagine the infant years of cable television in Dublin. Clearview Cable television came to Dublin in 1965. This new service offered clear reception without the dangerous and unsightly antenna. Before cable, when the weather was just right, Dublin residents could get WMAZ out of Macon and WJBF and WRDW out of Augusta. Sometimes you might received a fuzzy picture from WSB in Atlanta. Cable allowed us to see these stations clearly and without the horizontal and vertical roll. A 390 foot tower, Dublin’s tallest, was erected near the intersection of Brookwood Drive and Claxton Dairy Road. The signal was amplified or boosted at various locations throughout the city to keep the signal strong in all parts of town. Eventually satellite dishes were used to receive signals from space. The original channel lineup included the Macon station and the two Augusta stations along with WSB, WAGA, and WAII (WXIA) from Atlanta. Educational television was received from WGTV in Athens. A local channel which provided music and weather information was found on Channel 4. The weather information was extremely primitive in comparison to the digital graphic weather we are used to today. Weather conditions, such as temperature, wind speed and relative humidity were shown by a camera which panned a series of dial type weather instruments. Clearview Cable also offered the reception of a relatively new form of entertainment, FM radio, with ten stations from Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, and Athens. The office in Dublin was the state headquarters for the corporation, which also brought Cable TV to Milledgeville, Swainsboro, Valdosta, and Thomasville. Dublin Courier Herald, November 12, 1965.
Comments