Cable’s biggest milestones
1985: Wrestling for dollars
Pay-per-view had been in use since the early 1970s to broadcast sporting events of all kinds, but it wasn’t until Vince McMahon, the young owner of the World Wrestling Federation, held the first “WrestleMania” event in New York on pay-per-view that a cable sports love affair was born. McMahon’s enterprise, now called World Wrestling Entertainment, is currently one of pay-cable’s most prolific programmers, with multiple pay-per-view events per year. (Chris Carlson / AP)
1985: ‘Live Aid’ inspires a generation
The recent airing of Live Earth may have been a clarion call for the environment, but it was far from the ratings event that was 1985s Live Aid. With its main stages in London and Philadelphia, Live Aid aired on multiple networks (ABC and MTV in the U.S.), and is said to have attracted more than 1.5 million viewers in 100 countries.
Performers included Led Zeppelin, the Who, U2, Madonna, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, but “Live Aid” became a television milestone for providing almost a full day’s worth of continuous satellite coverage around the globe. (Dave Hogan / Getty Images)
1988: Cable wins over jury of peers
After well over a decade in operation, the cable industry finally earned recognition from its peers when the network-centric Academy of Television Arts & Sciences decided to bestow two Emmy awards on cable programming, specifically HBO’s documentary “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam.” Earlier that same year, another cable station, ESPN, won the first Sports Emmy for its programming. (Anne Cusack / LAT)
2007: ‘High School Musical 2’ takes sophomore honors
Forget three times. The second time must be a charm, because the premiere of “High School Musical 2” pulled in an estimated 17.2 million viewers. That number would make it the most-watched basic cable program in history and the summer’s biggest blockbuster not on the big screen. The old cable record belonged to a 2006 Monday Night Football game on ESPN that drew 16 million viewers. (Adam Larkey / AP)
