I’m suddenly reminded of a fairly large channel error from one of CN’s competitors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_Games_and_Sports_f...

When Nick GAS shut down, somehow, Dish Network had an automated loop of the channel that they themselves kept running for about 15 months after the channel’s demise. I’m curious what systems at Dish Network were still running a ghost channel by itself like that. Did they just get delivered loops of programming to shove on the air from Nick directly and just leave it up? I would have figured Dish would have been getting a feed from Viacom that would have dropped at the same time as GAS itself.

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drunken_thor 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Knowing cable companies that was probably until all contracts with that channel as part of the subscription ended. They had to keep the channel running otherwise they might need to refund people.

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thesuitonym 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I suppose it makes sense if your channel doesn't have a lot of new or live programming to just send a tape instead of setting up a feed.

I always wondered about these types of channels back then, that had absolutely no original programming, and very few if any commercials. What was the plan with them? Were they just trying to keep brand familiarity? Was it so difficult to get a channel spot that they didn't want to lose it? But if so, why go through all the hassle to get the spot with no income stream?

	▲	kotaKat 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Weirdly GAS was a popular channel back in the day but was offered only on higher tier cable packages (in my market, it required Digital Cable, which meant hoping your parents were willing to splurge for the extra package, the digital box (or boxes)…). I assume the income stream was more being delivered from offering GAS as a ‘premium’ channel, then eventually it became an automated vehicle that just got lumped into a “bundle” of channels being sold to the cable companies (eg “Buy Nick for your customers and we’ll throw in GAS and Jr”) once they stopped providing actual live content for it circa 2004-2005.