SelecTV was an Americansubscription television service that was formed in 1976, and first began broadcasting in 1978; the service focused entirely on televising movies, and was shut down in 1991. The service originally allowed subscribers to pay only for programs "selected" during the month, with the first several minutes free ; it later switched to a flat fee.
Overview
SelecTV was transmitted via scrambled signal from a local UHFtelevision station. A decoder box was required to unscramble the signal in order to view its programming. SelecTV was available in at least three markets: in Milwaukee on WCGV, in Los Angeles on KWHY-TV, and in Philadelphia on WWSG. On WWSG, the service utilized the gated-pulse scrambling technique for the video – and for the audio using technology that would later be used to enable multichannel television sound, moving the audio to a different subcarrier, freeing the standard audio channel for use as a barker channel. In 1984, New Jersey-based Wometco Home Theater began offering SelecTV on its affiliatedtelevision stations after the network ceased programming; however, the affiliation with SelecTV would not last long, as within a year, WHT ceased operations. This occurred following a massive financial collapse, its own as a result of a majority of their subscribers defecting to cable television services which offered more channels, including pay television services such as HBO and Showtime. In 1983, the service went national via satellite and was later purchased by Starion Entertainment, which eventually dropped the SelecTV branding in the late 1980s and renamed it Starion Premiere Cinema. The service ceased operations in 1991. Unlike rival service ONTV, SelecTV specialized in airing movies and did not air sports events. Foreign films were often shown in dubbed and subtitled versions, which were indicated in the channel's monthly programming guide. In the early 1980s, Los Angeles affiliate KWHY simulcast some programs from Z Channel. During Oscar season in the Los Angeles market, regular programming would often be preempted for special "Academy Consideration" screenings of films in contention for Oscar nominations. As early as 1981, SelecTV aired more suggestive R-rated movies and softcore versions of pornographic films on its "Adult Theater" programming block. To enable parental control, the scrambling scheme was slightly different from their regular fare and a key switch on the descrambler unit could lock out decoding of the adult programming. Another thing that made the channel unique was its policy of incorporating R-rated movies throughout the broadcast day, at a time when other pay services restricted R-rated content until after 8 p.m. SelecTV also transmitted its C-band satellite feed "in the clear" for a longer time than rivals HBO and Showtime. By 1984, OnTV and SelecTV merged, and some sports events were broadcast on the combined service. Most of those events were simulcast from the then-recently launched regional sports networkPrime Ticket. In 1986, SelecTV produced one original, non-sports series: the half-hour comedy Channel K. The title of the series was chosen to mock one of SelecTV’s early competitors, Z Channel. Each half-hour episode was composed of shorter segments, averaging five minutes, spoofing television programming. There were two comedy spin-offs from Channel K, both also airing in 1986, presented in ten-minute segments in order to be used to fill time as needed between movies. The first was Bachelor Pad, where a self-proclaimed ladies' man gave not-so-helpful tips to single men looking to be more successful at dating women. The second, Handy Dan, gave do-it-yourself lessons that always led to disaster. In 1987, Channel K returned to the network briefly with the new title, Son of Channel K. Three VHS volumes, including episodes of both Channel K and Son of Channel K, and segments of Bachelor Pad and Handy Dan, were released on home video in 1989 and 1990, as the SelecTV network, eroded away by the advancement of cable television, went dark.
