Do you get cable TV?
I do, along with about 51% of Americans. Even with satellite and Internet TV, encroaching on its turf, Cable Television makes up one of the largest paid memberships in the U.S.
Religiously, and for as long as I can remember, I have been paying for their membership privileges, to the tune of around one hundred dollars a month, even though I rarely have time to watch it.
I too, have many of the same complaints as everyone – hundreds of channels yet nothing on!
Still, I marvel at the genius behind this “behemoth of a membership model” and have poked around in its history for any lessons that can be learned and applied to memberships being created today.
Where did Cable TV come from?
Well, it was originally created almost by accident…
History can get a little muddled at times, and like most inventions, many people seem to come up with the same idea, almost at the same time, but most people tend to attribute John Walson as the father of modern Cable TV.
As the story goes, back in 1947 Walson and his wife were trying to make a living selling appliances in Mahanoy valley, outside of Philadelphia. He sold TV’s in his electric appliance store there, for around 500 dollars. The 12 and a half-inch black and white beauties, netted him a nice profit, when he could sell them, but he was experiencing a few problems.
Television had been around for about two decades by then, but they just weren’t catching on quick in Mahoney.
John’s biggest problem was that the nearest TV station was in Philadelphia and when he’d turn on his floor model, to show folks this new fangled picture tube, all you could see was static.
It wasn’t that he was too far away, it was just that the TV signals didn’t travel down into the valley where his store was, as was the trouble with most of the surrounding area.
You would think this guy didn’t have a prayer, but old John was a go-getter. People say that he set up an antenna on the hillside and if you were really interested in buying a set, he’d gladly lug you and a TV up to
the antenna, for the show of your life.
They say, “necessity is the mother of invention”, and this must have been what got John Walson’s creative juices flowing, because eventually he found some Army surplus wire and managed to run a line from that antenna right down to his store.
People then would stand on the sidewalk from miles around, to gawk at the flickering pictures and crackling sounds, emanating from his shiny new floor models.
Yes sir, those were some big doings, back in the day.
Well, as you can imagine, televisions started flying off the showroom floor soon after, but many of the residents of Mahanoy and the surrounding boroughs weren’t as keen about hauling there TV’s up to Johns antenna on the hill to watch them, as he had been.
Wall plugs were somewhat scarce up there, and most of them had envisioned enjoying their new TV’s from their living rooms, like the big city fellas in Philadelphia.
John Walson being the, go getting businessman that he was, struck upon a new idea in 1948.
“Why not run wires to everyone’s house off of his antenna.”
That’s what he did.
For one hundred dollars, he’d run a cable to your house for you to use, as long as you paid him two dollars in membership dues per month! His idea garnered him national attention.
Cable TV was born!
He probably later went on to become the CEO of the largest Cable TV Corporation in the world!
Right?
Nope, you’d be wrong on that account.
So, what happened to Mr. John Walson, our 1948 Membership Mogul of the year?
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