Launched in 1977, ONTV was one of many "scrambled UHF" television services in many major markets around the United States (including SelecTV, PRISM, Starcase, Spectrum, Preview, VEU, Wometco Home Theater, SuperTV and Z Channel) in the era before multi-channel cable television services offering cable-originated networks – including subscription services with formats similar to services like ONTV – became widely available. Cable television increased in availability throughout many cities during the 1980s, rendering "over-the-air" subscription television obsolete. The service changed its name to ON Subscription Television in 1983 after it purchased the rights to the subscriber list for Spectrum; ON continued operations until shutting down two years later in 1985.