Complaints about the cost of cable, 36 years ago

In 1982, an executive with La Crosse’s cable TV franchise…then called Group W…was insulted that the city council wanted to review his company’s rates.  Terry Myering called it a “slap in the face.”  Myering objected to a plan before the council to give the city more control over those cable rates.  The Group W man said the free market should determine customer rates.

Some of the shows people were watching on cable and free TV in ’82 included “Hill Street Blues,” “Happy Days,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” and “The Love Boat.”  Among the series which made their debuts that year were “Cheers,” “Family Ties,” “Cagney and Lacey,” and “Late Night with David Letterman.”

And people who worked in downtown La Crosse were waiting to see when construction would start on the new First Bank Tower, now known as US Bank.  The 10-story project was announced in 1980, and a July of ’82 starting date had to be moved back to September.  The bank building would replace a parking lot at 2nd and Main…36 years ago, 1982, yesterday in La Crosse.