Denver 5 Analog feeds (old school question)

[Mr Tony]

OK this is for the hard core old school C-Banders out there (or someone with a helluva good memory)

Before the new Denver digital nets, the old analog version was the "Denver 5" which was CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and KWGN from Denver

Before Fox came along (1986) what was it called then? The Denver 4?
I assume the Denver nets were up on C-Band for the people in the mountains back then.

Just one of those questions that I wondered.

 

[dfergie]

All I remember is the Denver 5 so I must have gotten after the birth of Fox...

 

[Mr Tony]

same here Fergie. I always saw the promos in the satellite mags for "Denver 5"

 

[dfergie]

SatelliteTVweek was my weekly program guide, I did buy Orbit every once in a while but being a monthly the Info for wild feeds etc.. was very dated. When HBO went VCII I broke down and bought a standalone descrambler which I traded in when I bought a GI 2400R. I subscribed to the Denver 5 and Primetime 24 for a long time until 96 or so when I got D* and was able to get the primetime 24 with them. (still have the distants)

 

[Greg Mueller]

Speaking about history....
I bought my original BUD about 3 mos before HBO scrambled, but I can't remember what year that was. When was that?

 

[voomvoom]

Tony, the 3 major networks and PBS and KWGN were always there. It was an independant before Fox ever came along and I've often wondered why it didn't become a Fox affiliate. I guess Tribune had other ideas, or KDVR made a better deal with Fox. They added KDVR as an independant and took it away for a while and brought it back. I think maybe negotiations broke down or something, but it was definitely back when Fox came along. I'm not sure if it was before Fox started or not, but it was around the same time. KDVR was ITC for the longest time and I'm not sure if it was part of the mux or not. When it scrambled it was still fixed key for some time and when we lost that it became a part of the Denver mux. That was a good while ago and some of this may have been imagined in my head, but that's the way it's in my head.

Al

 

[dfergie]

Videocipher II

This was the first consumer scrambling system. It entered use in January 1986 by HBO, and within two years was used by a majority of major cable television programmers. However, lapses in its security enabled some cable pirates to modify the descrambler to receive free programming. Beginning in 1991, programmers began to phase out the VCII system in favor of the highly secure Videocipher II Plus (RS) system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videocipher

 

[Mr Tony]

Tony, the 3 major networks and PBS and KWGN were always there. It was an independant before Fox ever came along and I've often wondered why it didn't become a Fox affiliate. I guess Tribune had other ideas, or KDVR made a better deal with Fox. They added KDVR as an independant and took it away for a while and brought it back. I think maybe negotiations broke down or something, but it was definitely back when Fox came along. I'm not sure if it was before Fox started or not, but it was around the same time. KDVR was ITC for the longest time and I'm not sure if it was part of the mux or not. When it scrambled it was still fixed key for some time and when we lost that it became a part of the Denver mux. That was a good while ago and some of this may have been imagined in my head, but that's the way it's in my head.

Al

Al
I didnt think PBS was ever part of the Denver 5. It was KWGN (Ind), KCNC (CBS), KMGH (ABC), KUSA (NBC) and KDVR (FOX) as long as I could remember.

as for KWGN

KWGN turned down the Fox affiliation in 1986, which instead went to KDVR. KWGN affiliated with WB in early 1995, as did most of Tribune's independent stations. Since the WB only provided a few hours of network programming a day, KWGN's existing lineup was largely unaffected.

Fox approached Tribune in 1996 for an affiliation with KWGN. Even though Fox already owned KDVR (which it had planned to sell off), KWGN was still a more desirable option as an affiliate, given its longer history and its news department (both of which KDVR lacked). That plan did not materialize, and KWGN remained a WB affiliate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KWGN-TV

 

[voomvoom]

You're probably right about the PBS Tony, so that would have to mean it was called the Denver 4 or something else? But, I don't remember it being the Denver 4 or anything else. But, KDVR was up there before Fox started. I just don't think it was part of the Denver 5, but I don't know.

Al

 

[mikekohl]

The Denver stations were never in the clear, and my recollection is that the original Denver 5 (ABC-CBS-NBC-PBS & KWGN) were first uplinked to 137 West
(F1) starting in the Spring of 1986, using the Videcipher 2 scrambling format.
(HBO first scrambled permanently on Jan 15, 1986, with Showtime/The Movie Channel following in May of that year).

KWGN was a very popular independent station (sister of WGN-Chicago), and was in big demand across the country once it became available.
KDVR-31 was added to the Denver package (now the Denver 6) shortly after it became a Fox affiliate.

KRMA-6 PBS was offered as part of the Denver package from the beginning;
only disappearing from analog subscription in recent years as Netlink scaled back costs. I don't remember exactly when it was removed, but think it was sometime shortly before 2001.
(KRMA is now reappearing as part of the newly revived "Denver 8", in DC 2 mode a few months ago).

 

[dfergie]

F1 was a popular satellite(NBC in the clear) along with F3, W4 and W5 before the Galaxy satellites came...

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks Mike for the info

 

[dfergie]

Forgot about F4... where Playboy was on C-band

 

[birdview]

I know PBS was one of the original Denver channels becuse I used to Dr. Who on that station all the time

 

[voomvoom]

Yep! F4, also had Bravo, SPN, TBN, and TEC (the Entertainment Channel) which later merged with ARTS (Alfa Rupertory Television Service) to form what we see today as A&E. And AFRTS (I guess east) was also on there.

Al

 

[Diamond Jim]

This KDVR sounds familiar. When I got the 922 in September of 03 there was a digital Denver station on the Ku side of G4. It was called UPN 31, they did Rockies and Avalance games. It lasted about a year, ring any bells?

 

[Mr Tony]

You're thinking of UPN 20 KTVD (Callsign may be wrong). Its now part of Denver 8

 

[Diamond Jim]

You're thinking of UPN 20 KTVD (Callsign may be wrong). Its now part of Denver 8

That's close enough for me.

 

[Mr Tony]

Its UPN 20 and Fox 31 (KDVR is Fox). Dont know what UPN will go to come September (KWGN already has CW locked up)

 

[SPECIES11703]

I remeber there was a feed of fox called foxnet on f1 transponer 19 at that time.