CTV-i

 

 

 

 

I've talked a bit about this before. But now I think it's time to introduce everyone to something Special (to me, at least) from my Teen-Hood. Something that is (Was) near and dear to me, something Nostalgic. Something that was completely made obsolete by the Internet. 

Today, I'm talking about Staten Island Community Television's CTV-i.

Now, Before I talk about the service itself. Here is a brief history.

 

CTV-1 (short for Community Television Interactive) was created as a spin-off channel in the Early 90's as an Interactive Information Service for those with Touchtone Phones. Staten Islanders would tune in to Channel 56 on Staten Island Cable (later known as Time Warner Cable), dial-up the number (727-0235) , and enjoy everything CTV-1 had to offer.

 

From The Early 90's to the Early 2000's CTV-i was The place for At-Home Information and Fun for Staten Islanders.

 

So,what happened to it? If CTV-i so popular, why isn't it still around? Simple - The Internet! Once that grew, usage of CTV-i shrank. And by Late 2000,the Service was rarely used, causing CTV to shut it down a year later in 2001.

 

CTV-i was something that me and my buddies used to watch and use a lot during the 90's. It is missed.

In 1996, my best buddy,P. K. (real name withheld due to him hating getting name dropped in public), introduced me to CTV-i , which He had been using since 1995. So when he told me about it, I decided to check it out and I was hooked. When I wasn't using the service (mainly to play the interactive games and trivia), I was watching it to see what the other users did.

 

The service used an older computer Operating System (i think it was Amiga) for it's presentation, with Synthwave/Vaporwave playing in the background. Later this was replaced with music from a popular Radio Station (which CTV did have).

 

When logged in to the service, the user was greeted with a male digitized voice welcoming you to the service.

 

It would either say - "Welcome to CTV-i,The Interactive Information Service,from Staten Island Community Television!" or "Welcome to CTV-i, The Interactive Information Service. Select an Option from The Express Entry Menu!"

The user would then use their Touchtone Phone as some kind of remote control, with the options repped by a number on the phones keypad.

To access an option of the Service, all the User had to do was press the corresponding number on the Phone. (Ie. if an option waz repped by the number 7, all the User had to do is press 7.)

 

Some of the Services CTV-1 included were - Information about NYC Transit, Employment Listings, General Info About Community Civic and Cultural Organizations, as well as Fun Stuff like Interactive Stories,Trivia, and Quizzes. 

Sometime in '98/'99 CTV-i would introduce a "Kids" section, where the little ones could play kiddie games such as fun with Shapes, Numbers, and Colors.

Created as a "Mascot" for this section was a character called Sock Boy. Later, Sock Boy would get a sidekick, a stick figure with a circle head, known as Stick Guy.

There was also various vector graphic bumpers. One of which depicted a close-up shot of a smiling woman wearing shades that had lenses that spun in multiple colors. Next to her was a message telling you that You Were Watching CTV-i. Fun stuff.

Anyway,the service was on a time limit, each session would last around 2 minutes. Once those 2 minutes were up, the session would end for that caller. A caller also end their session by either hanging up the phone, completing an Interactive Story, or getting a "Game Over" on an Interactive Story.

I think there was another way to end the session, but I forgot what it was.  

Once the session was over, a female digitized voice would say - "We appreciate You using CTV-i. Thank You for calling and please call again!"

Now, let's talk more about what's available for the service. Besides the stuff mentioned above there was also News Briefings (including weather, traffic, and construction), Various Bulletin Boards (including animal adoption and lost and found, special events, and personal engagements), Sports Scores (includes racing,boxing,and wrestling results), The CTV Show Schedule (ch.24,ch.34,and ch.35), Movie Times, and Directories.

Now I'll talk about my favorite part of the service, and the part me and my buddy P. K.would use the most - The Interactive Stories. 

CTV-i had 3 Interactive Stories during it's run - The Adventures of You,Adventures of You 2, and Adventures of You 3.   

In "The Adventures of You", You take the role of a Staten Islander who finds a Gem and it makes you shrink. You eventually get abducted by, and later befriend, a bird. It ends with You (still shrunk) and the Bird foiling a Bank Robbery.  You then become a Hero known as The Bird Master. 

In "Adventures of You 2", You come across a mysterious forked road at night - one path leads to a Creepy Old House, the other leads to the Unknown. The Unknown is a trap, so the only way forward is though The Haunted House. If you Do decide to stay in the Unknown, You'll be attacked by Evil Monsters (with evil eyes)

Anyway, before entering the House the User Must get by an Evil Witch/Vampire. After defeating her, the User needs to reach the Exit, but not before getting by all sorts of Evil Beings and Traps. One such entity is the Evil Pharaoh.

Once you finally exit the House, it's day time and the skies are clear. After that the game ends.

"Adventures of You 3" has You adventuring in Space. There were nasty Aliens involved and you could get lost in Space. But other than that, I don't remember this one much.

CTV-i was one of the many different things that shaped my Youth. And I'm glad to have watched it (and used it) during it's prime.

One of my fondest CTV-i memories is from '96/'97, where I would watch it in the backroom of my house, while sucking on Jolly Ranchers (remember those).

And that's gonna do it for this Personal Memory Trip. Hope you learned a little something about Staten Island's Community Television.

So Space Cowboys, Until Next Time - Punch a Nazi in The Face,Kick a Commie in The Balls, Resist Modern Attitudes, and Stay Gold.