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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I would agree with 1999, but would end the era at about 2010 when streaming became readily available. There are far too many options now for viewing without cable, or network TV.
70s to right before the start of the Internet, maybe to the turn of the century. When the mystery of pulling in shows from far away was a joy. When you could get a rariety that you usually didn't see. When the commercials had life to them, showed you a world that was fun to live in. When watching the Sci Fi channel was like the college sci fi club.
But then it became all ordered, with powerful executives putting in their own interpretation of things should be, when the show franchises took over everything, when channels put out their own made garbage, hoping one would be a hit they could cash in on. When people put their own comments into shows, thinking they were funny, with things like "pop up video".
The killing blow was when things went to Terminator vision of filling in what you were watching with info, advertisements of other things. When the TV guides showed you that if you weren't watching prime time, you were nothing for they listed the other hours as "varied programming". When ESPN was talking heads instead of showing sports from around the world.
When did cable networks have their best programming?
When it just hit 100 channels in the late 90's.
As it crept up past 100 channels the quality slowly went down. When it hit 200+ channels, it started sliding faster. Now it is crashing harder 800+ channels.
I was "happiest" with cable back in the 80's when the signal was unencrypted, you didn't need a special box just connect TV to a jack in the wall, you had a simpler remote and few enough channels to remember their numbers, and the monthly bill was not much more than the monthly newspaper bill.
NBC in the 80s, with the Thursday night lineup of The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers and Night Court.
I think CBS started slaying it when Survivor debuted 21 years ago and then with Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, etc.
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When it hit 200+ channels, it started sliding faster. 
