Charter/KMOV (CBS STL) Dispute

[jhamps10]

Well in the ongoing saga with KMOV and their HD channel not being on Charter cable in the st louis region.. well looks like Charter is threatening to pull KMOV Completely off Charter Cable systems... keep in mind that Charter is the 800lb gorilla in STL with little competition except for Dish and Direct.

here is the message from KMOV's website:
Charter Cable Decision

(KMOV) -- For more than two years KMOV has been trying to reach an agreement with Charter Cable to have KMOV’s signal available to Charter cable customers. We have made offers, Charter has not responded. We want Channel 4 on Charter, but effective December 31st, Charter will no longer carry KMOV.

For the majority of viewers in the St. Louis area KMOV and CBS programming will still be available. We have been able to reach agreements with every other distribution company in town so viewers can still watch KMOV on Direct TV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and of course over the air. Charter’s decision only affects Charter customers.

Channel 4 is far and away one of THE most popular channels on Charter Cable and has invested millions of dollars in its local news, and high-quality local and syndicated programming as well as in its conversion to high definition.

Charter boasts in its ads that local channels like KMOV are the main reason why you should spend your money on cable TV. What they don’t tell you is they have been taking local programming for free and then charging you. Charter pays practically all cable networks for their signals, networks that are far less popular. But they don’t want to pay for local channels. That’s not right, it’s not fair and Charter knows it. They pay to carry local signals in other cities, but this time – for some reason – Charter’s position will hurt St. Louis cable customers.

Interestingly, our company owns television stations all over the country and has been able to work out agreements like this in every single market with every cable distribution company and satellite provider except one, Charter Communications. They are the only company that refuses to recognize the value of a popular LOCAL station such as KMOV to its customers.

We are not giving up, and we will keep trying to negotiate with them to keep Channel 4 on Charter. You are not happy about this. We are not happy about this. It doesn’t have to be this way and Charter knows it.

Let Charter know how you feel. Give them a call, or send them an e-mail and tell Charter you want to keep Channel 4 on their cable system. Or you might consider switching to DISH Network, DIRECT TV or AT&T U-Verse.

Contact Information:

Charter Communications offices: 314-965-0555

Charter Customer Service: 1-888-GET CHARTER (1-888-438-2427)

Charter E-mail:SteveGM@chartercom.com

Helpful Links:

DIRECTV 1-800-494-4388

DISH NETWORK 1-888-825-2557

ATT U-verse 1-800-288-2020

 

[cageppert]

This is the REPLY from Charter in regards to this! What LOVELY customer care they have! I am a current customer of Charter and am seriously thinking I should cancel my service and go get the digital box!

Thank you for taking the time to write to me I appreciate it. We continue to negotiate with Belo Corporation, the owner of KMOV-TV (CBS) to carry their signal on our system past December 31, 2008. We have reached hundreds of mutually beneficial agreements over the past several years with other broadcasters, and are hopeful we can in this situation.
Charter is working hard to control the rising costs of programming services, which directly impacts our customers. KMOV-TV is demanding high monthly fees from Charter cable customers for the same programming they provide free over the air and which CBS provides for free on the Internet at CBS dot com.
The United States Government gives KMOV and other broadcaster’s free use of the public airwaves to transmit their television programming. KMOV-TV is demanding a significant amount of money for programming that is available for FREE. With broadcaster’s advertising business suffering and broadcast TV ratings low, KMOV is trying to maintain their profits on the backs of our customers.
Charter wants our customers to know that we will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with Belo and KMOV, as we have in the past. I assure you we have responded to KMOV and want to reach an agreement with them. We just want to obtain a fair and reasonable agreement, so that you won’t have to bear the extraordinary costs associated with carrying KMOV.
We will continue to negotiate in good faith to obtain an extension or an agreement before 12/31/08. We have no intention of dropping KMOV, the choice is up to them. I am hopeful that we will reach an agreement and I am sorry that you have been placed in the middle of this dispute.
It is their decision I hope they give us permission to carry their signal; all we want is a fair deal for you and the rest of our customers.
Sincerely,

Steve Trippe
Vice President – General Manager
Charter Communications
941 Charter Communications
Town & Country, MO 63017
SteveGM at chartercom dot com

 

[apollog]

I worked for Charter Communications for 3 years, it is the worst cable company out there. They only care about themselves, not the consumer. They don't even carrying the NFL Network, because they are to damn cheap to give the consumer want they deserve. As an employee, Charter Comm. gave me free cable service. I didn't take it, I opted to go with Directv because it is a superior product than cable.