Business & Tech
Decision Day Today for Local Cable TV Station?
With the August 15 deadline looming, there's still time to sign an online petition and show support for local TV programming.
A meeting today with Comcast could determine the future of WCYN, Nashua's local Class A cable television station, which has been slated to be dropped from the local Comcast channel lineup.
Carol LaFever, chief operating officer of the station's new owner, Over the Air Broadcasting (OTA), has scheduled a last-ditch meeting with Comcast for 9 a.m. Aug. 13.
"I'm putting it this way. If nothing is decided (Tuesday), I'm OK with that. If the door is closed tomorrow, I'll be devastated," said Carolyn Choate, on-air reporter.
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She and husband/producer Gordon Jackson have pulled out all the stops to try and save the station they at one time owned, and still continue to single-handedly operate as they have for the past 25 years.
Last month Comcast announced it was preparing to drop MyTV Channel 13 from its lineup. Choate concedes that the station had lost much of its local appeal after it was bought by Bill Binnie in 2011.But new station owner OTA has returned control of programming to Jackson and Choate, who are once again producing solid local programming.
Despite all that, Comcast has not reversed the decision that the station would be dropped as of Aug. 15, 2013.
In an effort to buy some time, Choate and Jackson reached out to local and state officials and business leaders – and the community at large – asking for support to save the station.
"We have the backing of the entire New Hampshire delegation. We are very close to 1,500 signatures, including 546 online. I've gone hither and yon by myself getting petition signatures everywhere I go," Choate said.
Local businesses are posting flyers all around the city, and several businesses have donated their public sign space to urge residents to sign the petition, including Gate City Collision Center.
Choate and Jackson say they simply want Comcast to honor the "gentleman's agreement" they had, that the station would remain on the air and not have to go digital until 2015.
"They see us as a technical dinosaur, but we believe they don't realize that OTA, who paid $4 million for the station, is in the process of sinking another $1.5 million into the station to go digital. That's happening in October. All we need is two more months, beyond their Aug. 15 deadline," said Choate.
"We've asked them to honor the original signed agreement we had with Comcast, that said we had to convert to digital by 2015. We've asked them to at least give us a year to prove ourselves – that we're back on track with local programming, something that fell by the wayside with the previous owner," Jackson said.
A 30-second TV spot was created to help rally public support - it's uploaded here – and provides a link to this online petition. Choate and Jackson are hoping for 5,000 signatures.
You can click here to sign the online petition to keep TV-13 on the air.
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