CBS Cable
Encyclopedia
CBS Cable was an early cable network operated by CBS
, Inc., dedicated to the lively arts (i.e. symphony, dance, theatre, opera, etc.). It debuted in October 1981 and ceased operations on December 17, 1982.
, who hoped it would blaze a trail for cultural programming in the then-emerging cable television medium. Its program offerings were ambitious and often critically praised. Nevertheless the network struggled, and ultimately failed, largely because of the reluctance of many cable systems across the United States to give it carriage, limiting severely its ability to attract both viewers and advertisers for its costly lineup of programming. Cable systems in the early 1980s had far more limited channel capacity than they do today (usually only a few dozen channels in most cities). CBS Cable was competing for channel space by appealing to a select and relatively small upscale audience, while other networks coming on line at the same time such as MTV
and ESPN
promised larger and more broad-based viewership and therefore got cable operators to carry them far more easily. MTV and ESPN thrived and gave rise to additional companion channels within a short time, while the CBS Cable channel folded after just over 14 months in operation.
from Gaylord Entertainment, along with CBS' existing stakes in the regional sports network
s Midwest Sports Channel in the Twin Cities
/Milwaukee (now split into Fox Sports North, serving Minnesota and the Dakotas, and Fox Sports Wisconsin for Wisconsin
) and the Home Team Sports networks in the Baltimore
/Washington and Dallas/Ft. Worth
areas (now Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
and Fox Sports Southwest, respectively). TNN and CMT were folded into MTV Networks
after the 1999 merger with Viacom
, with the sports networks sold to other parties shortly after the merger. In 2005, as a result of the split-up of CBS and Viacom, Showtime Networks
(Showtime, Flix, and The Movie Channel
), and CBS College Sports Network (formerly College Sports Television, or CSTV) became a part of the newly formed CBS Corporation
.
CBS also made another effort to launch a cable network using the CBS name, CBS Eye On People, which launched in 1997, featuring mostly biography programming and programs from the CBS News
archives, along with old episodes of 60 Minutes
and other CBS newsmagazines. However the effort proved to be unsuccessful, and in 1998 CBS sold its stake in the network to Discovery Communications
, which rebranded it as Discovery People temporarily.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Inc., dedicated to the lively arts (i.e. symphony, dance, theatre, opera, etc.). It debuted in October 1981 and ceased operations on December 17, 1982.
As a network
CBS Cable was a personal project of CBS founder William PaleyWilliam S. Paley
William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
, who hoped it would blaze a trail for cultural programming in the then-emerging cable television medium. Its program offerings were ambitious and often critically praised. Nevertheless the network struggled, and ultimately failed, largely because of the reluctance of many cable systems across the United States to give it carriage, limiting severely its ability to attract both viewers and advertisers for its costly lineup of programming. Cable systems in the early 1980s had far more limited channel capacity than they do today (usually only a few dozen channels in most cities). CBS Cable was competing for channel space by appealing to a select and relatively small upscale audience, while other networks coming on line at the same time such as MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
promised larger and more broad-based viewership and therefore got cable operators to carry them far more easily. MTV and ESPN thrived and gave rise to additional companion channels within a short time, while the CBS Cable channel folded after just over 14 months in operation.
Continuity host
- Patrick Watson (also known for PBS' Live at Lincoln Center)
Programs
- Artists and Mothers included the film A Film About My Home, an autobiographical piece by Oren RudavskyOren RudavskyOren Rudavsky is an award-winning documentary filmmaker specializing in work on religion outside the mainstream. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1979.- As director :* At the Crossroads: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Today...
, as well as pieces by Joseph CornellJoseph CornellJoseph Cornell was an American artist and sculptor, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage...
, Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Jonas MekasJonas MekasJonas Mekas is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America.-Biography:...
and Mark Rance. - Confessions of a Cornermaker, an original dance piece by Twyla TharpTwyla TharpTwyla Tharp is an American dancer and choreographer, who lives and works in New York City.-Early years:Tharp was born in 1941 on a farm in Portland, Indiana, and was named after Twila Thornburg, the "Pig Princess" of the 89th Annual Muncie Fair in Indiana.she spend hours working on it to help her...
. - Count Basie Live at Carnegie Hall, one of Basie's final performances, featuring guests Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, George BensonGeorge BensonGeorge Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, Joe WilliamsJoe Williams (jazz singer)Joe Williams was a well-known jazz vocalist, a baritone singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.-Early life:...
and Sarah VaughanSarah VaughanSarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
. - Gilbert & Sullivan productions by Brent WalkerBrent WalkerBrent Walker was a UK company which owns various businesses including property, gambling and pubs. It was founded by George Walker, the brother of the boxer, Billy Walker.-George Walker:...
(H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
, The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, IolantheIolantheIolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
, The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, and The GondoliersThe GondoliersThe Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
) aired in its last week of broadcast. - Kennedy's Children (1982), play by Robert PatrickRobert Patrick (playwright)Robert Patrick is a gay American playwright, poet, lyricist, and short-story writer and novelist. He was born Robert Patrick O'Connor in Kilgore, Texas, USA.-Personal life:...
, directed by Marshall W. MasonMarshall W. MasonMarshall W. Mason is an American theater director, the founder and for eighteen years, artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company in New York City....
, produced by Glenn Dubose, Feb. 11 & 12, 1982, starring Shirley KnightShirley KnightShirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
, Jane AlexanderJane AlexanderJane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
, Lindsay CrouseLindsay Crouse-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
, Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
, and personnel from the Caffe Cino. - Mornings at Seven
- Music Music Music (1981), the history of music in 90 seconds, with a score arranged by Mel TorméMel TorméMelvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
; designed and directed by John CanemakerJohn CanemakerJohn Cannizzaro Jr. , better known as John Canemaker, is an independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department...
. - Nichols and Dimes: A documentary film about business investment, with Mike NicholsMike NicholsMike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
' very successful Arabian horse business portrayed as an example. This was the first show broadcast on the network. - The Quiz KidsQuiz KidsQuiz Kids, a popular radio-TV series of the 1940s and 1950s, was created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan . Originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton...
, a resurrection of the fifties/sixties game show, hosted by Norman LearNorman LearNorman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
. - The Ring of the Fettuccines, parody opera co-authored by Marie Allyn King
- Signature, an interview series in which the camera never cut away from the interviewee.
- Singin!, three specials produced by and featuring Nancy Dussault singing popular classics.
- The Song Writers, a series saluting composers of The Great American Songbook
- Tintypes, a revue of American music from 1895 to 1912.
- Mixed Bag, a selection of highlights from the channel's short history, shown as the network's final program.
As a CBS division name
The CBS Cable name was renewed for three years as the name of the network's cable division, after the 1996 purchase of The Nashville Network (now Spike) and Country Music TelevisionCountry Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
from Gaylord Entertainment, along with CBS' existing stakes in the regional sports network
Regional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
s Midwest Sports Channel in the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
/Milwaukee (now split into Fox Sports North, serving Minnesota and the Dakotas, and Fox Sports Wisconsin for Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
) and the Home Team Sports networks in the Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
/Washington and Dallas/Ft. Worth
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...
areas (now Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is a regional sports network that delivers live-game coverage and sports news and entertainment television programming to more than 4.7 million households throughout the Washington, D.C...
and Fox Sports Southwest, respectively). TNN and CMT were folded into MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
after the 1999 merger with Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
, with the sports networks sold to other parties shortly after the merger. In 2005, as a result of the split-up of CBS and Viacom, Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks, Inc. is the corporate division of media conglomerate CBS Corporation.The company was established in 1983 as Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. after Viacom and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment merged their premium channels, Showtime and The Movie Channel respectively, into one...
(Showtime, Flix, and The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel is an American premium channel owned by Showtime Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, which shows mostly movies, as well as special behind-the-scenes features, softcore adult erotica and movie trivia....
), and CBS College Sports Network (formerly College Sports Television, or CSTV) became a part of the newly formed CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
.
CBS also made another effort to launch a cable network using the CBS name, CBS Eye On People, which launched in 1997, featuring mostly biography programming and programs from the CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
archives, along with old episodes of 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
and other CBS newsmagazines. However the effort proved to be unsuccessful, and in 1998 CBS sold its stake in the network to Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications, Inc. is an American global media and entertainment company. The company started as a single channel in 1985, The Discovery Channel. Today, DCI has global operations offering 28 network entertainment brands on more than 100 channels in more than 180 countries in 39...
, which rebranded it as Discovery People temporarily.