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Chapter 3 The Incubation Period of Cable Television Although the history of cable television dates back to 1948, the technology did not attract the attention of Boston and Detroit’s city planners and community organizers until the early 1970s. It was only in the late 1960s that early users of cable television even began to explore its potential for social services.1 Both in Boston and Detroit, residents did not benefit from cable television until the late 1980s. City planners, however, did not remain idle during the 1970s and 1980s waiting for the technology to develop on its own. Both cities witnessed various extensive and city-specific studies to investigate whether cable television would be beneficial to their communities . Such analyses examined how residents could benefit from the new technology, what the best introduction method was, and other detailed questions to prepare residents for developments the cities foresaw. Even though this incubation period did not reach a consensus as to how Boston and Detroit residents would benefit from a cable system, what planners and organizers discussed during this time impacted how the new technology was introduced, implemented, and developed in both cities at a later time. As much as Boston and Detroit witnessed various kinds of discussions and studies during this period, there also were significant changes taking place in cable and other media industries on the national level. The TV 9 case under the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Justice ruled that the FCC could no longer “ignore the effects of past racial discrimination in choosing applicants for broadcast licenses.” After this decision, race became one of the criterions in deciding a potential ownership of a broadcasting system. Although this ruling immediately affected the broadcasting media in 1974, it also influenced the decision-making process of a cable television franchisee selection during the 1980s.2 The incubation period of cable television covers slightly different periods for Boston and Detroit. This was the time when planners and organizers prepared for more concrete and detailed efforts to bring cable television to 63 64 Struggles for Equal Voice their respective cities. It covers the years between the launching of initial investigations and the issuing of requests for proposals (RFPs). RFPs were public and official announcements that the issuing city was interested in introducing a cable system. Following the instructions given in an RFP, service providers who were interested in wiring the cities applied for licensing . Therefore, the incubation period refers to the period when studies and discussions took place among city officials and residents, before cable providers made any official offers. As for Boston, the official RFP was not issued until February 1981. Corporations that were interested in wiring Boston, however, began to submit their offers and study outcomes in 1980. Therefore , the incubation period for Boston ended in 1979. Detroit’s RFP was issued in summer 1982. Its incubation period ended in August of that year. Encompassing more time than any other period examined in this study, the incubation period is vital in understanding what drove city officials and community organizers to start considering cable television as a tool for community empowerment. Furthermore, this period is dynamic in two ways. On one level, it encompasses both the Civil Rights and Black Power eras. It also includes a very early period in the 1980s that would eventually be known for Reaganomics, increasing concerns about drug use, and other social issues. African American activists involved in the studies of cable television in Boston and Detroit were impacted by many of the social transformations that took place on the national level. In other words, African Americans’ efforts for community justice through the use of cable television did not take place in a void. On another level, African Americans in both cities clearly saw benefits of cable technology. As Chapter 1 demonstrated, cable television’s narrowcasting capability was appealing to racial and ethnic minorities. It was going to offer opportunities for self-representation without relying on major media corporations. African Americans could possibly produce their own media content without using or relying on white-dominated resources. By the early 1970s, African American communities had used visual media to advance their political and social agendas, despite the continuing presence of racially demeaning images on mainstream television. Cable television was thought to reverse the trend of assumptions about African Americans. Kristal Brent Zook explained that “[w]hat some programmers think Black people might like to watch is often a far cry from what Black people...

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