James F. Reynolds

James F. Reynolds (13 January 1919 – 25 August 2003) was an American businessman, musician and pastor. He is best known for starting one of the first commercial cable TV systems in the United States.

Biography

Born in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania to Myron M. and Faye Moore Reynolds, he began his first TV-related business, Reynolds TV & Appliance Store, in Sandy Lake. Seeking better receptiin for repairing TV and radio, he created a customer base through trade for property right of way, store display, and word of mouth. Reynolds emulated the "pipe TV" system (first introduced by BBC Television in 1932) by creating the Reynolds TV Cable subscription service in the late 1940s in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania.

Originally, this system was ideal for those living in mountainous or remote regions like Sandy Lake where broadcast signals were not readily available. (As one of his sons, I have no clue why, how, or who added this next part about the antennas, but dad did not transmit signal, just relayed the signal from his antenna to the customers. The antennas were licensed due to their height of 100' and to stay legal with taxes due to the original business which required the better reception that got it all started in the first place. The freeze had no effect on the cable service at all. Only real FCC license he had was for the 2 way communication radios between the service trucks and base.) But it experienced even greater demand during the Federal Communications Commission's television licensing freeze from 1948-1952, when only those holding government issued permits were allowed to own and operate over-the-air antennae. Essentially, Reynolds would run coaxial cable from his licensed antenna to subscribers' homes for a connection fee, then charge a monthly fee for continued service.

Reynolds's system became so popular by the late 1940s that Reynolds expanded services to nearby Stoneboro, Cochranton, Utica and Polk. He did not, however, patent the concept, and as a result, several other entrepreneurs, including John Walson (who installed a similar system in or around the same time as Reynolds) and Robert Tarlton, were able to create their own Community Access Television companies. In fact, Walson has been officially recognized as the inventor of cable TV by the United States Congress and by the National Cable Television Association.

Still, Reynolds's work did not go unnoticed, and for many years after his initial contribution to TV history he served as a consultant to other cable TV providers. His own business was purchased by his son, Rick Reynolds, in 1975 and later sold out as the cost and service increased for the addition of satellite channels became popular.