More carriage tussles

What started in 1994 as a collaboration between the TCI cable system and WPXI, has now been dropped by the company that operates on the old TCI system. That is to say Comcast subscribers have no access to Pittsburgh Cable News Channel

WPXI claims that Comcast informed Cox Media Group on Monday, December 30 that they would drop distribution of PCNC at the turn of the new year. Cox offered a temporary extension until more permanent arrangements could be made. Comcast apparently has stated that they will not reconsider its decision or engage in discussions about continued carriage. The decision by Comcast does not appear to affect the carriage of WPXI itself.

As we mentioned in our previous story on PBRTV, Cox and Verizon FiOS are in a tussle over the cost of carriage for WPXI and its two subchannels. This also includes PCNC making the cable channel inaccessible to most of the Pittsburgh viewing area for the time being.

Meanwhile, a similar issue is taking place between Hearst Television Inc. – the owner of WTAE-TV – and DirecTV. According to WTAE, the current agreement has been extended until 3 p.m. on January 2. But viewers are warned that WTAE could be dropped from that lineup at that time if a new agreement is not reached.

For several years, these agreement battles have appeared to be very dramatic and, frankly, childish with one company saying one thing in their own favor while the other company does similar in their favor. Most of the time, even if the drop lasts for several days, an agreement gets hammered out and all is well again. Meanwhile cable systems and satellite services are not permitted to carry broadcast signals without the consent of the station owner. That usually comes at a cost to the cable/satellite provider.

The only way to ensure you will never lose your local channels is to install an over the air antenna and receive them from the airwaves.