January 17, 1984

[brianhenke]

Twenty years ago today, Warner Amex Cable (as it was known as then) suddenly pulled the plug on the interactive QUBE Network after only more than a half of a year.

   The network featured shows that were aired live five days a week at 7:30 p.m. in Cincinnati, Columbus (O.), Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis: "Video Rockade" (aired Monday and later Friday nights, I think), "The Magic Touch" (Tuesday and Thursday nights), "Score" (a sports quiz that aired on Wednesdays) and "Quizzles" (a children's show that aired Friday and Monday nights, I think.)  The QUBE network also aired specials: In the fall of 1983, I played "The Great Cable Game" - I got every question right, but I didn't win any of the cable TV prizes.

    The only whereabouts I have of a QUBE game show host is Bill Myers, who hosted Magic Touch.  He can be heard on WMKV-FM, a station that is aimed at older people (they play Big Band music - can't wait to hear what it sounds like thirty years from now). He also hosted Screen Test, a movie and TV trivia game that aired on QUBE Channel 30 in Warner Amex Cincinnati.

   Altogether:

                    TOUCH NOW

    Warner (now Time Warner Cable) continued to offer cable boxes with QUBE consoles until 1997 - when we were finally told they were discontinuing their use. By then, it had been over a decade since the QUBE interactive technology was last used.

    Brian

    Columbus Day is observed in September?

    We want some more pro wrestling (STILL) and NASCAR questions!

[aaron sica]

As much as we bash Mr. Henke, I find this topic pretty interesting - not exactly a game show, but it was trivia...

How did this work? Did you tune to a special cable channel that it interfaced with? I'm a self-confessed gadget freak, and I'm just curious on how this technology worked, back in 84...

And can QUBE at all be tied with what eventually became AOL, or am I thinking of gamemaster or something to that effect?

[brianhenke]

How did this work?

 
    A QUBE game show worked like this:

   
   In the maingame, the host would ask a question.  Then after the answers were given, the host (or screen, as was done on Quizzles) would say

     TOUCH NOW

    At that point the QUBE user picked the answer he/she thought was correct.  If the question was answered correctly, he/she would get points that correspondended to whatever percentage got it right (ie, if 30 percent got it correct, 70 points would be given). Magic Touch was played for prizes for QUBE users; Score was played as a monthly tournament, with the winning city getting $1,000 of sporting goods for an organization.

    A QUBE console consisted of five buttons on the right side.

     Brian

     100 plus 100 equals 600?

     We want some more pro wrestling (STILL) and NASCAR questions!

[rugrats1]

Twenty years ago today (1/17/1984), Warner Amex Cable (as it was known as then) suddenly pulled the plug on the interactive QUBE Network after only more than a half of a year.

I thought QUBE started in 1977? This, of course, is the same QUBE that gave birth to the forerunners of MTV and Nickelodeon, and was also home to Bill Cullen's "How Do You Like Your Eggs?".

[brianhenke]

The QUBE that started in 1977 was only seen in Columbus.  The QUBE Network games lasted from the summer 1983 to January 17, 1984 and were seen in Columbus and five other cities.

    Brian

    100 plus 100 equals 600?

    We want some more pro wrestling (STILL) and NASCAR questions!

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'rugrats1\' date=\'Jan 17 2004, 07:22 PM\'] I thought QUBE started in 1977? This, of course, is the same QUBE that gave birth to the forerunners of MTV and Nickelodeon, and was also home to Bill Cullen's "How Do You Like Your Eggs?". [/quote]
 Funny you should mention Bill.

http://userdata.acd.net/ottinger/cullen/shows/howeggs.html