Requirement stops cable channel’s Saturdays

[cablewithaview]

The requirement by Time Warner Cable to carry a $1 million broadcast liability insurance policy has caused local TV station KVHC to stop its Saturday morning programming.

Viewers are unhappy about the change.

“Channel 10 (KVHC) is the main network that I watch a majority of the time,” said Kerrville viewer Lawrence Oldham. “I’m willing to drop Time Warner and go through the air using an antenna. I know it’s going digital in 2009 and that I will have to buy a converter box, but I am willing to do that.”

Oldham canceled his cable service with Time Warner on Monday.

A Time Warner spokeswoman in Flower Mound said the company’s hands are tied on the matter because of the Federal Communications Commission.

“We are bound by very specific rules and regulations set forth by the FCC,” said Paula Smith, media relations for the cable company.

The FCC, however, stated in the Federal Register that reasonable insurance requirements are based on the operator’s practices ... the likelihood that the nature of the leased-access programming will pose a liability risk for the operator, previous instances of litigation arising from the lease-access programming and any other relevant factors.

“We have established a pattern over the past 12 or 13 years with no liability problems at the station,” station manager Mary Silver said. “And churches make up a lot of our airtime, so that should eliminate the liability.”

Silver said she was counting on not having to pay for the insurance policy and on new FCC rules to take effect before signing a new contract with Time Warner, which the station received Tuesday.

In February, the Federal Communication Commission ruled that cable companies must reduce rates for leased-access stations, such as KVHC. According to Silver, that would drop what the station pays Time Warner by about 400 percent.

The FCC’s new rules were set to take effect May 28, days before the end of KVHC’s contract with Time Warner.

“The cable companies have gone to court, and there is now a stay order for these new rules,” Silver said. “I was very disappointed. We are still in the same boat.”

Silver, who hoped soon to broadcast 24 hours a day to Time Warner customers, said without the changes there is no way the station can afford it.

Smith said that because of the stay order, the cable company must proceed under existing rates.

“These are simply proposed rules by the FCC,” Smith said. “Again, we are bound by very specific rules and regulations by the FCC, and there is nothing beyond those that are a part of this arrangement.”

Silver agrees that Time Warner is doing what is allowed by law but still feels the cable company should not have to obtain the $1 million insurance policy.

“We have had to drop all programming on Saturday to pay for this liability insurance policy,” Silver said. “The sad part is that it is the community that is affected by this.”

Silver said “Organic Matters” will be the sole surviving show from the Saturday lineup. The program now will be aired live Wednesday at noon and then repeated twice throughout the day.

KVHC is available through airwaves on channel 15 as a 24-hour broadcast station, as well as through the cable company that serves Ingram and Center Point.

“We were hoping to have the same 24-hour access with Time Warner with the new contract, but since the new rules aren’t in effect, we can’t afford it,” Silver said. “On our 24-hour feeds we do live election results, we cover candidate forums and townhall meetings, and we are on the air when there is bad weather.”

Silver said she is not necessarily upset with Time Warner.

“The point now is that these FCC changes may never happen,” Silver said. “The issue is in the courts right now, and if the cable companies are successful, then things will probably stay the same.”


Kerrville Daily Times

[cablewithaview]

Thanks to a donation made by a Mountain Home woman, KVHC plans to bring back its local Saturday morning programming.

Station manager Mary Silver said the programs initially were canceled because Time Warner Cable required the station to carry a

$1 million broadcast liability insurance policy.

Since that announcement, Silver said the station has received a number of phone calls and e-mails from viewers who were disappointed with the changes.

One viewer in particular, who could not be contacted for comment, decided to pay for the liability coverage herself to get the shows back on the air.

Following a one-week absence, “Sun Up Saturday” and “Organic Matters” will return to KVHC on June 14.

Silver says the station should not be required to carry the insurance.

Charlie Stogner, president of the National Association of Leased Access Programmers, agreed.

Stogner said in a statement that, according to the Federal Communication Commission, “insurance requirements are based on the operator’s practices ... the likelihood that the nature of the leased-access programming will pose a liability risk for the operator, previous instances of litigation arising from the lease-access programming and any other relevant factors.”

Time Warner claimed its hands are tied on the matter and that the cable company is “bound by very specific rules and regulations set forth by the FCC.”

Stogner called Times Warner’s response a “bald-faced lie.”

Silver also is waiting on new FCC rules to take effect that would lower the rates KVHC pays Time Warner for airtime. The lower rates were expected to begin May 28, however the cable companies have taken the matter to court and a stay has been placed on the new rules.

“We were hoping to have 24-hour access with Time Warner with the new contract, but since the new rules aren’t in effect, we can’t afford it,” Silver said.

A new contract with Time Warner was signed by KVHC earlier this week.

KVHC is broadcast over the air on channel 15 and carried on both the Ingram and Center Point cable systems on channel 11 as a 24-hour station.

In Kerrville, the station is on at limited times throughout the day for Time Warner subscribers on channel 10.


Kerrville Daily Times