Time Warner customers await return of NBC channel - UPDATED

Time Warner customers await return of NBC channel - UPDATED

Written by Candace Birkelbach and Kara Vaught Wednesday, 29 October 2008

Time Warner Cable's contract with LIN TV, which owns NBC affiliate KXAN-TV, expired Oct. 2.

Update - October 29, 2008: KXAN announced that it has reached a contract with Time Warner Cable for both analog and high-definition signals. KXAN's programming is now back on Time Warner's cable system.

Time Warner cannot legally rebroadcast KXAN's signal without a valid contract. KXAN is transmitted via airwaves that can be picked up with an antenna free of charge. However, LIN TV has negotiated deals with other cable and satellite providers that compensate LIN for re-broadcasting its signals. A similar agreement between LIN and Time Warner was not reached before the Oct. 2 expiration.

Negotiations between KXAN and Time Warner are ongoing, but the two companies are providing alternatives for accessing the NBC channel. Time Warner Cable has instructional videos on its website detailing how to hook up their computer and television to watch full-length shows on their television screens via content from NBC.com. LIN TV has formed a marketing and promotional partnership with DISH Network, and KXAN is encouraging viewers to switch to a satellite service with DISH Network or a telecommunications service such as Verizon's FiOS TV.

Time Warner currently has other retransmission agreements in place with its Austin area broadcast stations, and LIN TV reached agreements with other cable, satellite and telecommunications companies. The federal government requires the contracts in order to carry a broadcast station's signal, but the two parties were unable to reach an agreement they thought to be fair.

"Most cable operators, like their satellite and telecommunications competitors, now understand and acknowledge that fair and equitable compensation is essential to ensure the viability of local television," said LIN TV's President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Sadusky.

Stacy Schmitt, vice president communications for Time Warner in Central Texas, said they worked to reach an agreement or an extension to the contract.

"Lin TV already makes millions of dollars in additional advertising revenue as a direct result of being on Time Warner Cable," Schmitt said. "Demanding more is just plain greedy and Central Texas deserves better."

For instructions on how to connect your computer to your television set to access content from NBC's website, visit www.timewarnercentral.com. To switch to DISH Network, call 1-888-DISH-950.

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