QUBE

QUBE was a cable television system that played a pivotal role in the history of American cable television. Launched in Columbus, Ohio, on December 1, 1977, QUBE introduced viewers, and the international press, to several concepts that became central to the future development of cable television: pay-per-view programs, special-interest cable television networks, and interactive services.

A closed-circuit television system at the Otani Hotel in Japan inspired Steve Ross, Chairman of Warner Communications, to wonder what could be done to improve the performance of Warner’s tiny cable television division. Ross was intrigued by the potential of delivering Warner Bros. movies directly to home subscribers.

At the time, Warner Cable was a tiny division of Warner Communications, run by a former Western Union telecommunications executive and attorney, Gus Hauser. Ross surrounded Hauser with entertainment industry executives—Jac Holzman, who had sold his Elektra Records to Ross in 1967; Mike Dann, the CBS programming wizard responsible for The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres; former CBS general counsel Spencer Harrison, an executive involved in the launch of My Fair Lady on Broadway; and super-agent Ted Ashley, whose talent agency was Ross’s first show-biz acquisition.

Pioneer Electronics was hired to "build the box" that would transform the cable TV service in a few hundred thousand households into a device that was intended to change the entire entertainment landscape. The service was first launched in Columbus, Ohio, amidst considerable national and international press coverage. The initial QUBE service debuted with 30 channels (a large number of cable channels at the time), including 10 pay-per-view movie channels (a then-new feature for cable TV); 10 broadcast channels (from Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Cleveland); and 10 community channels. These community channels included one dedicated to a single show: Pinwheel, which would go on to air on Nickelodeon from the latter's launch in 1979; Sight on Sound, a predecessor to MTV; a weather channel; a learning channel; and a channel filled with locally produced programs that showed off QUBE's interactivity. The first Qube box was issued as a test for 4 months to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Kesler, in Hilliard, Ohio. The Kesler family watched the broadcasts that were intended for a larger audience, and caused the eventual push in programming that would affect how cable formatted shows would be put together based on their viewing habits. The Keslers' children, Lori A. and Kurt W., are regarded to be the first product of the "cable generation."

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