Editing 1970s (section)

=====Pay television=====
As cable television became more affordable and accessible by U.S. consumers, the race to bring the silver screen to the small screen commenced with the launch of [[pay television]] services showing premium content.

[[HBO]] launched on November 8, 1972, becoming the nation's first pay-television channel. On September 30, 1975, HBO became the first television network to continuously deliver signals via satellite when it showed the "[[Thrilla in Manila]]" boxing match between [[Muhammad Ali]] and [[Joe Frazier]].

Star Channel launched its service offerings nationally in 1973 through the delivery of movies on videotapes for cable providers to broadcast. This proved problematic since the videotapes were often riddled with technical difficulties. Star Channel eventually was linked up to satellite in January 1978. Shortly after, Warner Communications acquired the channel and relaunched it on December 1, 1979, in its current form as [[The Movie Channel]].

Media giant [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] launched their premium service, [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], nationally on July 1, 1976, after a brief, wildly successful test launch on their cable system in [[Dublin, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/corporate-profile-showtime|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629195653/http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/corporate-profile-showtime|url-status=dead|title=Corporate profile: Showtime - Marketplace.org|date=29 June 2012|archive-date=29 June 2012}}</ref>