Corpus Christi Caller-Times from Corpus Christi, Texas • 6

1 A6Friday November 19 1993 CorpitfCWCaUeNKmai 1 Standoff Cable A1 ov Ti nil i'T xi' 03 vn rlv cations Commission is alert and unless broadcasters are alert the concept of free broadcasting can go down the Kennedy said Frank Smith Jr station manager at NBC affiliate KRIS said he believed the Corpus Christi broadcasters had taken an historic stand fighting to bring the intentions of cable and other companies to end free broadcasting to foe attention of the public done is about foe future of broadcast Smith said Smith said the US television industry has been tuned in to the Corpus Christi situation and soon will have a chance to gauge the importance of broadcast stations to cable systems The AC Nielsen Co a television ratings service this month is taking an important survey of viewer habits that measures how popular programs are with viewers Advertising rates are based on a ratings Smith said Nielsen will compare the ratings of the three Corpus Christi stations for foe first two weeks of foe month while they woe off system to foe two weeks of the month when they went back on cable If the ratings reflect a significant dip for the first two weeks of this month while the stations were off system Smith said then broadcasters will have proof that they need cable TV to attract viewers If there is an obvious surge in the ratings in the next two wreeks Smith said broadcasters be able to negotiate for fees with cable systems when federally mandated negotiations roll around again in three years Smith said the Nielsen results fin1 November will be released in about mid-December He said the entire television industry will be analyzing foe Nielsens to see what happened in Corpus Christi Billy Brotherton general manager of ABC affiliate Kill declined Thursday to discuss what agreement the station had reached wifoTCL Brotherton said KDFs derision to start a newscast had not been a actor in decision but he declined to discuss foe agreement forfoer Kill already has reached an agreement with Portland-based Falcon Telecable and Smith and Kennedy said Thursday that they felt they were dose to reaching agreements with Falcon The three broadcasters said they still were negotiating with Crown Cable of Kingsville but had substantive discussions with Coastal Bend Cablevision of Aransas Pass nT i-r 4 I I I 'ls vf -an ii'V FROM PAGE be dosed A lot of people lost their local stations and OmniVision got a lot of new customers OmniVision gained and TCI lost I learned I could live without the network affiliates ABC NBC and CBS Channels 3 6 and 10 I miss and miss them and if they come back on I really care The local television standoff proved that our local television and TCI can and did hold hostage the public they are supposed to serve until their own selfish purposes were accomplished what it proved Nothing very much The local stations were very greedy and some of us got to go to bed earlier and eiyoy reading and doing other things it amazing how they came to an agreement once Channel 47 managed to put its own newscast on Thank you KDF For foe hundred thousands of dollars the load stations lost in advertising they could have taught their newspeople how to be better so they could compete with KDF the best newscast on TV now Nothing was accomplished Pm really sorry that TCI settled with these guys I got so used to watching CNN and several other stations that I probably even watch the local television stations It served no purpose It caused a lot of aggravation for all of TCI customers I am thrilled that Channel 3 is back on the air and I hope that Channel 6 and 10 join them very quickly A lot of animosity toward the network people and their lack of interest toward the public and the fact that scared to death because there is news on KDF-TV I think what was accomplished is that people learned how easy they can be ripped off by these people not talking cable talking local Absolutely nothing was accomplished Except we now know that the owners off Channels 3 6 and 10 with their selfishness and greed care nothing about foe people or our community Thanks to TCI for trying to help us We forget I think it did anything to solve the problem It made a lot of people angry and still sooner or I in FILE PHOTO later it is going to go up So it really didn't solve anything The local TV standoff has shown that the cable company and the -three local stations are interested their own personal greed only and have no concerns for the viewing public's inconvenience There is nothing accomplished from the standoff We got our channels back I know why they took so long It was so dumb The thing I learned is never ever trust your local television stations 1 It showed me how little I watch the local television stations Noth-' ing else was accomplished The only thing that was accomplished is that foe customers were told we are not important It made a lot of people mad It solve anything and still if they are going to up the rates they're still going to do it The only real winner is OmniVision They gained thousands of new customers Talk Soup was better than anything Channel 3 ever puts on I want the Entertainment chan- nelback Nothing much was accomplished What I do think is that we had three new channels to watch Now we have 3 6 and 10 Now they are closing out the Entertainment cartoon channel and the new country station to get back Channel 3 6 and 10 1 think they goofed it up by going baric on ca- Me i I think anything was accomplished but what I did learn was that I could do without ABC They censored my TV anyway: They let me watch I can do without NBC since-they decided to do away with Jay Leno and the only one I really cared to watch was CBS so the other two I really care More business was made OmniVision and what learned for myself and sure a lot of people have learned is not' trusting TXT Even if it was for-last cable company in Christi I would drop them They deceived tire public I want to thank OmniVision for hanging there and helping us out Thank you Well I just got home from work watched the news looked at the TV programming for tonight And you want to knew something? I missed anything erA1! KINGSVILLE STORE -1030 I4th St (K Caessr Sc) 592-9450 Hilda Godoy gets an AB switch on offices as the cable battle began city said he only could speculate why the affiliates decided to settle the dispute this week after weeks of negotiations Moore said both sides wanted to eliminate the inconvenience to cable viewers but market conditions might have driven the decision of the affiliates to some extent One of those market conditions Moore said might have included RDF-TVs decision to present a nightly newscast Don Holley KDF-TV general manager said in a prepared statement Thursday that he believed KDF played an integral role in getting the affiliates back on system glad to see the affiliates back on cable and excited about the part KDF-TV played in making it Holley said day after we announced that Jay Ricci was coming to KDF-TV to anchor our negotiations between the affiliates and TCI took a nuqor turn toward resolution had predicted just as it happened that when we went on the air with a local newscast (Mon Oct 6 outside the TCI Cablevision day) the affiliates would get serious about Holley said adding that Moore told him that negotiations had gotten serious on Monday Holley said the KDF newscast would continue despite the settlement Vann Kennedy owner and president of CBS affiliate KZTV said Thursday that KDFs newscast had nothing to do with his derision to settle with TCI though he had heard there had been a favorable response to the newscast He said that TCI this week finally made an offer of substance long last they offered something of value to the Kennedy said Though not discussing what he received from TCI he said the terms of the three-year agreement acknowledged that KZTV added value to cable system He said local broadcasters fear that in the future television viewers will have to pay by the minute or by the hour just as they do to make a long distance phone call to watch a television program the Federal Communi FROM PAGE A1 the right to receive compilation for their signal but TCI hM made a corporate decision not to pay direct fees to stations for their Signals which sparked the local dispute The three network affiliates had cen off system in Corpus Chrnti since Oct 6 the federal deadline for cable operators and broadcasters to reach retransmission agreements Some residents of the assisted-living section of Heartland of Corpus Chriati a health care and retirement facility said they were glad' the cable war was over but that they felt inconvenienced and slighted by both sides Margaret Fields a managing nurse at Heartland said that after the dispute lingered on for about two weeks the residents got AB switches allowing them to view cable and network programs Hie devices had to be switched manually not with a remote control creating a problem for some of the residents Fields said Heartland resident Wilner Owen who uses a walker to get around said getting up to change the AB switch was a health hazard for her Another resident Wendy Arthur said the issue had been a hot topic at Heartland because a lot of tiie residents depend on television watching it for six or seven hours a day Heartland resident Ellaree Hilliard said she was pleased to be able to use her remote control to receive the network affiliates on Thursday just she said The three women described both sides in the issue as thoughtless Said Hilliard: certainly thought it (the conflict) was dreadful" There were others in the city who were wondering Thursday how the resolution of the conflict would affect their business Janet Blanchard manager of the Radio Shack in Sunrise Mall said she had sold about 500 AB switches and rabbit ears since the conflict began but those items selling at all on Thursday Several times in the past six weeks people scrambled all over the city just to find an AB switch or some rabbit ears TCI said it distributed about 40000 AB switches in Corpus Christi Business hadn't slowed so dramatically Thursday at OmniVi-sion of Corpus Christi said Kathy Roach vice president and general manager of the wireless cable system serving Corpus Christi very pleased with how our day has Roach said Thursday Roach said she had not received any cancellations Thursday and had received a high number of requests for new installations She said OmniVision gained about 5000 subscribers since August bumping its total to more than 1 5000 subscribers TCI reported about 1300 cancellations in October TCI has about 50000 subscribers Moore like many people in the G0P has new health plan TTm Anocitlid PnN WASHINGTON Two dozen Republican senators promoted a new health plan Thursday they said would make insurance more affordable without the coercive features of President approach It would outlaw many exclusionary insurance industry practices and give people individual tax credits to replace the existing tax breaks on employer-provider insurance It would not raise taxes but would shave S141 billion over five years from Medicare and Medicaid It is very 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