KTHV Demands Payment for Signal; Will Be Dropped From Wehco Cable systems

Oh the can of worms Nexstar has opened. Take a look at this from KTHV.com:

" You may be reading this message after learning your cable company will apparently drop Today’s THV and CBS on January 1st. Please allow me to explain why that may happen and what you can do to continue watching us.

The reason you would not be able to watch Today’s THV and CBS is because your cable company has decided not to pay for the right to retransmit our broadcast signals. They don’t want to pay us for the product we supply to them....that they re-sell to you.

Paying for programming is not a new concept to your cable company. They pay to obtain the right to carry most cable channels like ESPN, CNN, Lifetime, Disney, HBO, and many others.

We believe Today’s THV and CBS offer a valuable product, and we simply want to be paid a small fee compared to what some of the other program providers are paid. Your cable company may tell you we want you to pay for “free” TV. That is not true. In fact, Today’s THV is charged for much of the programming you see on our station. You can watch at no charge by simply setting up an antenna. But when your cable company receives our signals, then turns around and sells them to you – we believe that your cable company should compensate us like any other program provider.

The good news is you have several options so you can continue watching Today’s THV and CBS. As mentioned, use an antenna. Both our analog and digital signals can be seen with use of an antenna. Another option is to switch to either a Dish or DirecTV satellite system. Both of these major satellite companies already pay us for our signals, so you can subscribe to their services and continue receiving Today’s THV and CBS.

We don’t want you to miss out on so much popular programming including Dr. Phil, The Price is Right, and other daytime favorites, along with CBS’ number one prime time programs such as CSI, Survivor, Without A Trace, and 60 Minutes. The NFL playoffs are almost here, with the Grammy’s, NCAA Final Four, and the Master’s to follow. We take special pride in delivering Today’s THV news to you and thank you for tuning in each morning and evening.

We value your viewership and are sorry for the inconvenience caused by your cable company. If you want your cable company to carry Today’s THV and CBS, we ask you to contact them and let them know that...or take advantage of one of the options just mentioned.

Today’s THV will continue working to provide the best local news and weather coverage in Arkansas to you -- our viewer, no matter how you receive our signal. Thank you for taking time to consider our position on this issue.

Larry Audas
General Manager
KTHV"

UPDATE: 12/25

DCG comments: I guess I should title this a rant rather than comments. Anyway, this disappoints me very much. Living down here, too far from Little Rock to receive a watching signal from the tv stations and living just a little bit too far from Shreveport to get a good signal from the tv stations there, we have no choice but to depend on cable to get the 'local' channels. Sure I could get a dish BUT then I'd be stuck with all the hiccups when the weather turns bad and you need information fast. Down here we depend on the combination of the Little Rock stations and the Shreveport stations for our news and weather information. Little Rock stations don't do a good job of covering things that go on down here so we depend on the Shreveport stations to catch the slack. BUT Little Rock has the best weather technology and the best quality reporters and newscasts.

Who would have thought come January 1, 2006 that we'd be losing both KARK and KTHV. I can only wonder if KATV isn't far behind? I see both sides of the arguement and in the end it's the public in which the station's, who are suppose to be operating in the public's interest and not their pocketbook, that will suffer. I don't want my cable bill to go up and I don't wanna lose the stations either. I think it all comes down to greed on both sides, the station's and the cable company's.