I remember the time very well. I had all four airings in my area down pat. But I also remember casual fans having to look for it, and at the time people weren't used to it. I'm not saying it was hard, it was just an extra effort, and people can be lazy. Just look at the hubbub over All Access...laziness.people weren't confused. 1987 wasn't some 'dark time' where people didn't understand what was a Network station and what was a local station. Again, my point is - if someone was even slightly interested, there was more then enough info on where to watch in your area - PLUS since it was syndicated - TNG episode were being repeated multiple times during a week. So, evenb if you didn't VCR it, you had a chance to catch it on another day/time.
That was especially true for the premiere episode "Encounter at Farpoint".
RAMA