I've come full circle as a television viewer. I've done away with cable or satellite services for the last year and watched what I can get on my antenna from downtown Monroe.
Depending on the weather, I can get a wide variety of television, mostly on Channel 57 with its five digital selections. Channel 3 and Channel 47 come in well and each has multiple digital offerings.
It reminds me of growing up in Janesville, because my parents never had cable. My family relied on the antenna affixed to the house and its servo-adjustable directional control.
We received the stations in Madison and Rockford, Illinois. If you'll recall, the 1970s and 1980s were still the heyday for the production value of network news and shows. We had a variety of sitcoms to watch and there were plenty of dramas. I was a huge fan of news shows like "60 Minutes" and "20/20." I enjoyed "Unsolved Mysteries."
Shows like these were among the influences that led me to study journalism. I was always a newspaper reader and would come home after school and read the Janesville Gazette. The segments on "60 Minutes" were compelling. The early work of Geraldo Rivera on "20/20" was fascinating. Geraldo made me want to tell stories. This was before he had a talk show and became a personality instead of a journalist.
My family watched news from both Madison and Rockford. My dad worked at the Chrysler plant in Belvidere, Illinois, so Rockford news and weather was important. In fact, Rockford-produced weather forecasts were more accurate than the Madison-produced weather forecasts, in my opinion. Since Doppler radar came into use, all weather forecasts are similarly accurate.
While I spent a lot of time outside as a kid, there were periods of either wet or cold weather, and on weekends trying to find something interesting to watch before we had video cassette recorders was a challenge. We got six channels during the day and on the Rockford channels there were a lot of infomercials. Remember Ronco? I still want a Pocket Fisherman.
In the 1980s, independent channels came to Rockford (Channel 39) and Madison (Channel 47). One thing I enjoyed about these channels is they aired syndicated shows.
There were evenings when atmospheric conditions allowed us to get Channel 9 in Chicago and Channel 18 in Milwaukee. Getting Channel 18 on Saturday night was great fun because it ran "Kung Fu" or "Black Belt" Theater, which included one or two martial arts movies with voice-overs. My friends and I would eat popcorn, make fun of the lips not syncing to the sound and enjoy all the action.
Channel 47 became a Fox affiliate and had a strong Sunday night line-up that included "The Simpsons," which morphed from short films on the "Tracey Ullman Show." Fox also aired one of my favorite sitcoms, "Married with Children." At the time, "Married with Children" was among the most vulgar and low-brow shows on television. Doesn't say much for my class, does it? When "Married with Children" began, nobody could foresee it would become the longest continually-running live-action sitcom on Fox.
Not having cable television was a problem when it came to popular culture. I couldn't watch Music Television at home. Instead, I watched other music and talent shows such as "Star Search" and "Solid Gold." I remember watching Usher audition on "Star Search."
MTV announced and promoted the premiere of Michael Jackson's video for "Thriller" in 1983. I made sure I was invited to watch it at the home of my friend Jim Rabiola. I didn't want to be the only kid in school - yes, I felt that way and it was silly - to miss "Thriller."
Amazingly, after growing up without cable, I appear to have turned out OK. Today I have no cable and I actually find it easier to watch television. I don't channel surf. I watch only a few stations.
Channel 57.3 airs "Star Trek" marathons week nights. Each hour includes a different show from the "Star Trek" universe. I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a "Star Trek" nerd. No, I don't have plastic Vulcan ears, and I rarely say, "Beam me up, Scotty."
I will have to add cable service to my house as my family comes together more often in Green County and my step-son Griffin loves watching the Milwaukee Bucks. While I like the Bucks, I'll secretly wish we could watch "Star Trek." Maybe I should mount two televisions on the living room wall?
Going without cable television and suddenly having two cable-equipped televisions in the same room might give me a sense of entitlement I've never had before. When the next popular culture phenomenon happens, I'll be able to watch it on my own television.
This sounds like an expensive way to join the rest of America in the 21st century.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is
published Wednesdays.
Depending on the weather, I can get a wide variety of television, mostly on Channel 57 with its five digital selections. Channel 3 and Channel 47 come in well and each has multiple digital offerings.
It reminds me of growing up in Janesville, because my parents never had cable. My family relied on the antenna affixed to the house and its servo-adjustable directional control.
We received the stations in Madison and Rockford, Illinois. If you'll recall, the 1970s and 1980s were still the heyday for the production value of network news and shows. We had a variety of sitcoms to watch and there were plenty of dramas. I was a huge fan of news shows like "60 Minutes" and "20/20." I enjoyed "Unsolved Mysteries."
Shows like these were among the influences that led me to study journalism. I was always a newspaper reader and would come home after school and read the Janesville Gazette. The segments on "60 Minutes" were compelling. The early work of Geraldo Rivera on "20/20" was fascinating. Geraldo made me want to tell stories. This was before he had a talk show and became a personality instead of a journalist.
My family watched news from both Madison and Rockford. My dad worked at the Chrysler plant in Belvidere, Illinois, so Rockford news and weather was important. In fact, Rockford-produced weather forecasts were more accurate than the Madison-produced weather forecasts, in my opinion. Since Doppler radar came into use, all weather forecasts are similarly accurate.
While I spent a lot of time outside as a kid, there were periods of either wet or cold weather, and on weekends trying to find something interesting to watch before we had video cassette recorders was a challenge. We got six channels during the day and on the Rockford channels there were a lot of infomercials. Remember Ronco? I still want a Pocket Fisherman.
In the 1980s, independent channels came to Rockford (Channel 39) and Madison (Channel 47). One thing I enjoyed about these channels is they aired syndicated shows.
There were evenings when atmospheric conditions allowed us to get Channel 9 in Chicago and Channel 18 in Milwaukee. Getting Channel 18 on Saturday night was great fun because it ran "Kung Fu" or "Black Belt" Theater, which included one or two martial arts movies with voice-overs. My friends and I would eat popcorn, make fun of the lips not syncing to the sound and enjoy all the action.
Channel 47 became a Fox affiliate and had a strong Sunday night line-up that included "The Simpsons," which morphed from short films on the "Tracey Ullman Show." Fox also aired one of my favorite sitcoms, "Married with Children." At the time, "Married with Children" was among the most vulgar and low-brow shows on television. Doesn't say much for my class, does it? When "Married with Children" began, nobody could foresee it would become the longest continually-running live-action sitcom on Fox.
Not having cable television was a problem when it came to popular culture. I couldn't watch Music Television at home. Instead, I watched other music and talent shows such as "Star Search" and "Solid Gold." I remember watching Usher audition on "Star Search."
MTV announced and promoted the premiere of Michael Jackson's video for "Thriller" in 1983. I made sure I was invited to watch it at the home of my friend Jim Rabiola. I didn't want to be the only kid in school - yes, I felt that way and it was silly - to miss "Thriller."
Amazingly, after growing up without cable, I appear to have turned out OK. Today I have no cable and I actually find it easier to watch television. I don't channel surf. I watch only a few stations.
Channel 57.3 airs "Star Trek" marathons week nights. Each hour includes a different show from the "Star Trek" universe. I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a "Star Trek" nerd. No, I don't have plastic Vulcan ears, and I rarely say, "Beam me up, Scotty."
I will have to add cable service to my house as my family comes together more often in Green County and my step-son Griffin loves watching the Milwaukee Bucks. While I like the Bucks, I'll secretly wish we could watch "Star Trek." Maybe I should mount two televisions on the living room wall?
Going without cable television and suddenly having two cable-equipped televisions in the same room might give me a sense of entitlement I've never had before. When the next popular culture phenomenon happens, I'll be able to watch it on my own television.
This sounds like an expensive way to join the rest of America in the 21st century.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is
published Wednesdays.
