Alabama Cable Network

The Alabama Cable Network (ACN) is a cable television channel founded in 1981 by Don Earley.

Earley, a sales agent for the Burlington Northern Railroad, built the production company from the ground up in Dora with broadcasts of Dora High School football games as its flagship product. At its peak, the station, called "Your Community Channel", reached 600 individual subscribers in Dora and Sumiton.

Earley sold the business to Kirk Wood, who rebranded it as College Sports Southeast in 1998. That companym which had offices at 3447 Lorna Lane in Hoover, failed in 2001 following scuttled deals with Clemson University and with HealthSouth.

Earley and partner John Connor Sr purchased the network's assets, including its studio, at liquidation auction. He resumed covering local high school sports via his WOTM-TV low-power broadcast station and rebranded as Alabama Cable Network. The new format was picked up by Charter Communications as "Channel 80" in several markets, predominantly in Shelby County.

Programs

• "The Cousin Cliff Show" / "Cousin Cliff's Clubhouse"
• "The Voice of Alabama Politics"
• "Alabama Music Connections"
• "Legal Speak" with Thomas Carmichael and Kim Davidson
• "More to the Story" with Scott Beason
• "The 30-Minute Tim Hollis Hour" with Tim Hollis

References

• DeButts, Jimmy (September 5, 2001) Birmingham Post-Herald
• Nicholson, Gilbert (February 17, 2002) "Don Earley still keeps cable TV 'down home'." Birmingham Business Journal