ANTENNA KING, Bay Ridge

by Kevin Walsh

The Antenna King, Henry Langan, ruled the rooftops of Brooklyn from founding the store in 1967 at 6th Avenue and 65th Street on through the rooftop satellite dish era in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s little remembered now, but for decades, cable TV was unavailable anywhere but Manhattan and to get special programming like sports, bars and restaurants relied on satellite dishes.

That’s not to say, though, that I couldn’t get music videos without MTV. A short-lived music channel, U68, was available on Channel 68 on the UHF band in the mid-1980s. The picture was spotty coming in on my rabbit ears and only slightly more viewable via a rooftop antenna, and none of the megastars that had deals with MTV appeared on it, but it was better than nothing.

Cable TV finally came to Bay Ridge in 1987 and I was among the first subscribers. Pay TV was weird at first though.

Though the Langans still install rooftop antennas, their business is primarily exporting wireless cable antennas to the Middle East and Africa. Steven talked about his father’s non-antenna-related talents. “He’s the Antenna King, but he’s really an artist and kind of an inventor,” he said. Last month, a neighbor walked into the store, paged through one of the Antenna King’s sketchbooks, which was lying on a desk (the result of art classes he took at the Brooklyn Museum in the late nineteen-sixties), flipped past a detailed hand-drawn antenna ad captioned “$39.99 installed,” and pointed to a reclining nude. “That could be my wife!” he said. [The New Yorker]

10/18/16

8 comments

Anonymous April 25, 2017 - 5:13 pm

” What the king installs never falls “. I believe that was the motto on his sign.

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Walter P Guilfoyle June 17, 2018 - 1:24 am

your right that was the slogan on the sign good memory you have..

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Tony from Queens!! July 25, 2020 - 12:07 pm

And the motto is spot on!!! The King did my dish in the late 80s and I never had an issue with it!! Those were the days you could watch Raider games without commercials!!! All games were provided as wild feeds!!! Those were the days!!!

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Jessica F August 4, 2017 - 11:36 am

I bike by this shop regularly, and I always wondered what the history was. Thanks for sharing!

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Walter P Guilfoyle June 17, 2018 - 1:26 am

I remember that big sign Antenna King 6th ave and 65th street waiting to make that right turn in tons of traffic the old Antenna King was there with you every inch of the way Lol…
What the King installs never falls…..

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Richard DeVito June 29, 2019 - 3:43 pm

Hank spent years inventing his “Baseball Brain”. The idea was to sell people a basic cardboard sleeve. Then they would have to purchase various card inserts. For instance, if the Yankees were playing the White Sox, you would buy those inserts. Depending who was batting, against what pitcher, you would slide the insert up and down, and supposedly you would know how he would hit.
Hand held electronics made the Brain obsolete before it ever made into the stores.

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Dean Phillips, MD. October 30, 2020 - 4:45 pm

I’m an old friend of Bill Hannon’s is he still around??

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MATTHIS March 25, 2021 - 5:02 pm

The Antenna King of Bay Ridge, Henry Langan, passed away this morning at age 92.

Reply

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