Back Porch Video

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Back Porch Video was one of the first cable television-based music video programs. It premiered on January 28th, 1984 as the brainchild of Russ Gibb, former owner of the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. Gibb is best known as the radio DJ who suggested the Paul is Dead rumor, suggesting that Paul McCartney of the Beatles was actually dead.

Shown out of Westinghouse's Group W Cable studios in Dearborn, Michigan, Back Porch Video stayed on the air for the better part of 16 years.

What made Back Porch Video unique was that it was crewed and hosted primarily by area high-school aged students. The program aired live in Dearborn from 10pm - 1am on Saturday nights, although that was later expanded to 9pm - 1am after about one year of cablecasting. The show was broken up into hour-long segments, each of which was hosted by a different personality (or personality team.) This allowed for the programs to be distributed in hour-long segments to a myriad of other cable systems in the Southeast Michigan area. The program also saw a short run of three programs on Detroit's PBS station, WTVS-TV Channel 56, and won a CableACE award for excellence in 1985.

The musical style favored by most of the hosts was alternative rock, although plenty of pop music, heavy metal, rap and hardcore punk was also shown. Within the first few years of being on the air, Back Porch Video was serviced by most every major record label, as well as dozens of smaller labels and independent video promoters.