OnTV

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Do not confuse this with the Hamilton, Ontario television station that branded itself as "OnTV" (Ontario TV) from 1997 - 2001. For that station, see CHCH-TV.

OnTV was a pay television operator in the late 1970s and early 1980s that operated in major markets such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

OnTV broadcast over a UHF band with a scrambled signal. People would pay a monthly fee to rent a box that would descramble the signal (a box with a knob that had two settings - OFF and ON).

It was started by Jerry Perenchio and Oak Industries in 1977 and was bought out by SelecTV in 1984. Programming consisted mainly of movies and sports events. All affiliates carried major boxing matches; the L.A. service also carried the Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago service carried the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls.

OnTV was one of many "scrambled UHF" services in many major markets around the country in the era before multi-channel cable television became widely available. Others included SelecTV, Prism, Starcase, Preview, and SuperTV.

[edit] Stations that carried signal

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

WBTI Channel 64, Cincinnati (was also WIII, now WB64 WSTR-TV)
KBSC, Los Angeles (now Telemundo affiliate KVEA)
WPWR, Chicago (then on channel 60; WPWR is now MyNetworkTV on channel 50; channel 60 is TeleFutura affiliate WXFT)
WSNS, Chicago (channel 44 now Telemundo affiliate)
KTXA, Dallas/Fort Worth (later UPN, now independent station)
WXON, Detroit (now MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYD)
WKID, Miami (channel 51; now Telemundo affiliate WSCV)
KNXV, Phoenix (Channel 15; indepedent at time, later Fox, now ABC)