Newton Cable
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Newton Cable was a small cable provider in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada. It served neighbourhoods in northern Toronto from its offices in North York. Newton Cable, or Newton Cable Communications Ltd, was founded in the late 1960s and originally known as Willowdowns Cable. The Newton family got a grant of a cable television (
CATV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
) licence by the Department of Communications (DOC) for parts of
Downsview Downsview is a neighbourhood in the north end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wils ...
and Willowdale neighbourhoods. The cable system covered a geographic area with Sheppard Avenue as its southern border,
Steeles Avenue Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from Appleby Line in Milton in th ...
its northern border, Bathurst Street its eastern border, and Dufferin Street its western border. The main offices, production studio, and its head end was originally located at 979 Alness Street and later located at 78 Martin Ross Avenue. By the early 1990s, cable television operators gradually came under increased pressure from satellite operators and local telephone companies, which sought to compete in the delivery of video and other data services. Cable TV operators, having a strategic advantage in network architecture, responded by beginning to invest heavily to make their systems two-way capable, in part through the use of fibre optic cables and optical transmission systems to allow the delivery of services such as video-on-demand, internet, and more. But these significant changes away from traditional CATV services, and the requirement of heavy new investment, prompted the owners to sell Newton to one of the multiple system operators (MSOs) in Canada. After much speculation, the business was sold in 1992 to Rogers Cable.


Cable 10

Newton, like most local cable TV providers, encouraged the community in which they were based in to join in. Community members could suggest new show ideas or get involved in shows currently on the air. Newton also offered free technical courses to all members of the community, allowing everyone from students to business executives a chance to learn how to operate television production equipment. After many hours of hands on training, these people were able to operate camera, audio and editing equipment, as well as being able to set up lighting for sets. This was a great opportunity for people to learn these skills, but many volunteers also went on to work in the film and television industry both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Newton also had close relationships with high schools located in the North York area. Schools such as
Newtonbrook Secondary School Newtonbrook Secondary School (Newtonbrook SS, NSS) is a high school for Grades 9 to 12 in the Newtonbrook neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Opened in 1964 by the then North York Board of Education to provide a closer school for ...
would put together shows to be aired.


Cable 10 programming

Cable 10 aired programming Monday-Friday, 4pm-11pm. Newton Cable was a member of the Metro Cable Association and aired programming from Rogers and Maclean-Hunter, nightly. Some of the programs produced by Newton were on for many years and the hosts were well known in the community.


A slice of 1980s cable 10 programming

Health Here and Now, City By Night, Sports Den, Jock Talk, Teen Talk, Traffic Tips & Traumas, Fitness Facts and Fiction, The Movie Show, SJK, Cooking with Steve Jacobs, Singles Scene, Kaleideoscope, Let's Talk, Ask Dr. Jenchin, Doo Doo-The Clown, Zip and Zap, Streetbeat, Arena, Limelight, Splash Page, Jewish Journal, Your Money, OVERTIME Sports Talk, Backstage Pass, On The Ropes, Triva Challenge, Sonnee's Seniors, Chalk Talk (The Whine Line), and the Post 4:30 Blues Show.


Alumni

The most famous alumni to pass through the halls of Newton Cable was
Ed the Sock Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...
a.k.a.
Steven Joel Kerzner Steven Joel Kerzner is a Canadian actor, producer and television personality best known for his portrayal of Ed the Sock, originally appearing on CityTV and MuchMusic (until its decline in 2013). Kernzer has continued to portray the character thro ...
, who first dipped his covered toe on the airwaves at Newton Cable. Steve Jacobs (Program Director) went on to be a weatherman at the
Weather Network The Weather Network (TWN) is a Canadian English-language weather information specialty channel available in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It delivers weather information on television, digital platforms (responsive websites, ...
, CFTO-CTV and Chief Meteorologist at KIII TV (ABC) in Texas. He is currently the Chair of CMOS -Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society - Southern Ontario Chapter. He appears on TV Shopping Channels worldwide representing Medical, Health and Wellness products.


See also

* Rogers Television * Shaw Communications *
Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. History The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and Hu ...
{{Rogers Communications Defunct cable and DBS companies of Canada