Where did 1 go?

[jducoeur]

The odd questions that occur to one in the evening --

Why does television always start with channel 2? Whatever happened to channel 1? It seems quite consistent, whether in broadcast or cable -- the channels always start at 2. Is it just a technical limitation of the 1940's that got fetishized? Probably something like that, but I'm not quite sure where to even look...

Comments

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

I read about this peripherally when doing some research on radio during WWII for a project that never finished. What I recall was that FM happened and the frequency bands started bumping into each other. Then, the networks started playing political hardball to get (among other things) various frequency bands shifted around and channel 1 disappeared. Google is your friend. Here are two links that give an outline more or less what I remember reading: What Became of TV Channel 1? (http://members.aol.com/jeff560/tvch1.html) and Television History section of The Broadcast Archive (http://www.oldradio.com/current/bc_tv.htm). There's probably something more definitive out there.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

I knew as soon as I read this that Cecil would explain. As it turns out my vague recollection of a defunct channel was correct. The real question here is why did channel 3 get effectively phased out, making it the common AUX input these days?

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

There was a TV channel 1 once upon a time, but the spectrum got reassigned and they didn't renumber. According to the link below, it was assigned to "'land mobile,' a class of radio users that included
dispatchers and police." Per the Dept. of Commerce's 1996 wallchart of the radio spectrum (which is the most recent they were selling a couple years ago) the range from 48 MHz to 49.6 MHz is still part of a "land mobile" non-government block starting at 47 MHz, the range from 49.6 MHz to 50 MHz is split between "fixed" and "mobile" government-exclusive broadcasting, and 50 Mhz to 54 MHz is some form of "amature" spectrum. TV 2-4 then take up 6 MHz blocks starting at 54 MHz.

See also http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon971031/skinnyon.html for way too much historical detail.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

And, interestingly Comcast recently started using a "channel 1". Mind you, being cable, the frequency invovled may have absolutely nothing to do with normal broadcast.

[hungrytiger]

The similar question one must ask in the Boston area is, what happened to the A Line. On the MBTA's Green Line, we have the B, C, D, and E spurs, but where's the A?

I know that there was one once upon a time (the tracks are still there on the streets in Allson), but why was it retired?

[matildalucet.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know the answer to this one! The A line used to go to Watertown square, ending on the Galen St side near the car barn if I remember correctly. Service was "temporarily" replaced by busses at one point and the busses became permanent. Until a few years ago (I'm 45, so my "few years" may be longer than yours), the tracks were still used on occasion to move cars to the Galen St. repair facility. That is no longer the case.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

The A line was a "spur" of the B line. It split from Commonwealth Avenue a t Packard's Corner (where Comm Ave turns and Brighton Ave goes straight). The A line used to run down Brighton Avenue, through Brighton and into Watertown Square, following the same route from from Kenmore Square that the 57 bus now takes.

Brighton Avenue wasn't wide enough for both the trolleys and the trucks that were using it as an alternative to the Mass Pike. So, of course, they got rid of the trolley. Sigh.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

New York City also currently has a Channel 1, which actually shows up on channel 1. As you say, it's cable, so who knows what frequency it really is.