Why No Channel 1

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Yo! Cecil! The Huns didn’t sack Rome! The Visigoths (410) and the Vandals (455) sacked Rome, but not the Huns.

Everybody knows that in 452 Atilla met with Pope Leo I (The Great) and was convinced to leave Italy. Atilla kakked in 453 and the Huns returned to their stronghold east of the Danube.

While everybody knows the Pope Leo gag, few people realize the Chinese built part of the Great Wall to keep the Huns out. These guys must have been the historic forerunners of my last ex-wife’s family, although they usually get run out of town by the Sheriff, not the Pope.

Finally, is it true they call it “The Great Wall Of China” because that’s what it’s made of?

2

A far more interesting question is, why are there two columns about Channel 1?

3

Are you one of my ex-wives using a phony name?

4

That the three existing networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) lobbied hard for the four slices of spectrum, and that channel 1 should be an educational, public affairs and other sorts of wholesome goodness channel. It of course was never funded.

(PBS in its mondern incarnation came much later).

No evidence, just heard it many moones ago.

5

Several problems with this. First, there used to be more than 3 networks. The Dumont Network for example. Also, where do you get “four slices”? The VHF band (UHF came later) was 13 channels in 2 ranges of frequencies.

6

Vito. Welcome to the SDMB.

I’m not chiding you, but, if you had used the search feature for “channel” and “comments on Cecil’s column’s” you would have seen a thread reply by bibliophage at 4:25 AM last year. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122277&highlight=channel

He said,

What you should have asked is, why was[ b]bib** up that late?