Mrtraveler01 737 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Well, they've been bickering for quite a few years now and after not carrying the HD feed of KMOV the past couple of years, Charter will be taking KMOV completely off its lineup come New Year's day if they are not able to come to an agreement. This will leave viewers of the St. Louis area's largest cable company in the dark as a result. Basically it's the same problem we have seen over the country the past few years, Belo is asking for money to carry KMOV and Charter has been saying no over the past few years. I guess now Belo is fed up with Charter and is unfortunately resorting to drastic measures such as these. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/917A1A632D7934D3862575260003F1D6?OpenDocument I also noticed it's the same situation with sister stations WFAA too. http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1105207.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieboy247 42 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 That's a damn shame. Hopefully they'll be able to come to terms before then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude From VA 0 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 WVEC in Norfolk is doing the same thing with Charter. Charter's removal of WVEC will effect Suffolk (part of Hampton Roads) and most of the Outer Banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im4NY4ever 0 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Unfortunately, both Charter and Belo are not acting in the viewers/public's interest. I moved to STL three years ago and the number of HD stations I received as a result was more than halved. No ABC (finally added after Sincrap negotiations). Then they took CBS HD off just before the football playoffs, super bowl, ncaa's, masters, etc. in a very spiteful move. I wrote to both and Belo made it clear Charter had no interest in honest negotiations. After more than a year with no CBS HD, I finally had enough and have gone to DirecTV. Charter is not a very good cable company. And their internet - well at the moment it works, but often it does not. If AT&T Uverse unpackaged internet from video (Verizon FiOS does, why can't AT&T as they are losing lots of customers) I would sign up in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Charter can't afford to pay Belo, their long term viability has been questioned recently, and STL viewers will be the ones to suffer. Unfortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProButtonPusher 230 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Mediacom was fighting with Gray stations - after all the stations ran a crawl, they wanted to come back to the table ASAP! But now we're just struggling with small community cable carriers...Hoak's station here, WMBB, is having trouble with Mediacom - in their ticker they're recommending viewers switch to Dish Network...ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMA 135 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Well, if the cable company is going to bitch about the HD channels, just use an antenna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 593 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Well, if the cable company is going to bitch about the HD channels, just use an antenna. They're removing the stations completely. This poses a problem for people who do not have converter boxes and antennas after February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1945 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 They're removing the stations completely. This poses a problem for people who do not have converter boxes and antennas after February. You're right. The re-trans issues doesn't come at a worst time. We're seven weeks from Tonight before the analog cut-off date. I think Dish Network pulled the Fisher stations off their lineups last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightynine 287 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Based on a commerical I saw this morning (sound was off), looks like WWL in New Orleans is also in the same situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsie 11 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 So, it's looking like Belo stataions didn't exactly come to terms with Charter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PelicanGuy 117 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Based on a commerical I saw this morning (sound was off), looks like WWL in New Orleans is also in the same situation. WWL not too long ago had a similar squabble with Cox Communications. I think the issue with Charter is the same as it was with Cox: compensation regarding digital transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que 73 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 WFAA is airing commercials telling about their situation with the company and asking viewers to call Charter and complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im4NY4ever 0 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 The Post Dispatch (or what is left of it considering all the downsizing and cost changes) reported yesterday a deal may be near. we shall see. The damage is done. Charter has lost my business, and won't be getting it back for video or phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDubya87 0 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Sounds like the Nexstar cable dilemma all over again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 No, this is apparently a CBS-Charter spat because WIAT shown a promo during their newscast asking viewers to call Charter, which handles cable coverage for most of Metro Birmingham outside of the city (which is covered by Bright House). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ntropolis 593 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 No, this is apparently a CBS-Charter spat because WIAT shown a promo during their newscast asking viewers to call Charter, which handles cable coverage for most of Metro Birmingham outside of the city (which is covered by Bright House). Uh, no... this is Belo... WFAA and WVEC are involved in this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jero23 105 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Uh, no... this is Belo... WFAA and WVEC are involved in this... Well, I don't see how when WIAT is owned by New Vision, not Belo, and they aired the similiar commerical during their newscasts asking customers of Charter to called to keep "CBS on their line-up". So maybe Belo is having issues with Charter, but they are not alone in the spat with Charter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsie 11 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Well, Belo stations are asking for money in return for their programming on Charter. Something like a penny a month for every subscriber. http://hamptonroads.com/2008/12/official-says-charter-still-hopes-deal-wvectv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 So does this mean that viewers that have Charter Communications and that live in those markets will not be able to watch CBS or ABC programming? That sucks. Hopefully Charter and these stations come to an agreement in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im4NY4ever 0 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 So does this mean that viewers that have Charter Communications and that live in those markets will not be able to watch CBS or ABC programming? That sucks. Hopefully Charter and these stations come to an agreement in the next few days. Yes. This has been an issue with Charter for several years now in St. Louis, but mostly limited to HD feeds. When I moved here, there was no ABC HD for almost two years. Finally, Charter and Sinclair came to a deal. Than just under two years ago, Charter and Belo pulled the HD feed just as the NFL playoffs were getting underway (think it's a coincidence, me thinks not). I finally got fed up and went with DirecTV, which will have more HD channels than Charter's technology is capable of. Belo wants to be reimbursed. Charter has no cash and may be going bankrupt in 2009. The viewer loses. Belo claims Charter had no desire to negotiate. Charter claimed they should not pay for something you can get over the air. Unfortunately, the satellite companies compensate local stations, and created a precedent. All this is posturing. Papers are claiming a deal is close. The Virginia paper actually says Charter is offering to pay something, movement from the no payment stance they have all taken. Despite complaints, the FCC has not taken a stand and this situation has expanded to other broadcasters and cable providers. Hopefully the FCC in the new administration and grows a pair, to protect the viewer. Belo is evidently willing to lose the viewership, ratings and ad fees that would result from being dropped from Charter. Folks may want to explore satellite and telco options. I find it ironic that the head of CBS indicates that the local station concept may go away in a few years anyhow, considering viewing habits today. We shall see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVY 10 Fan 232 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 http://www.wvec.com/tv/charter_notice.html Looks like Belo and Charter have come to some agreement that preserves the Belo stations on the cable provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im4NY4ever 0 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Similar announcement on KMOV's website. In case you can't read it, they read it for you (not the best delivery to say the least). No mention of the HD signal which has been off the air for just under two years. http://www.kmov.com/video/topvideo-index.html?nvid=316837 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I just got home from vacation visiting family for the holidays and I noticed that we now have KMOV's HD signal on Charter now. First time in nearly 3 years. Not sure exactly when it came back on though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im4NY4ever 0 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I just got home from vacation visiting family for the holidays and I noticed that we now have KMOV's HD signal on Charter now. First time in nearly 3 years. Not sure exactly when it came back on though. January 1. Charter has lots of HD ads in today's Post Dispatch, saying "now you can watch all your favorite CBS shows in HD like..." and that they are adding new stations all the time, Yeah. sure. They also make it look like its a new addition, not reinstating something the jerks removed three years ago. DirecTV is so much better. I still have them for internet unfortunately since AT&T will not unbundle Uverse Internet from Video, which Verizon FiOS does, so my internet has gone down 4 times in the last hour. quality. good customer service. They ahve tried and cannot find the problem here. I gave up. Hope once they go bankrupt, things improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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