[EAS] Cable TV Problems

[Adrienne Abbott]

Well thought out and well written Sean, but you are still assuming that all
cable systems have the latest and greatest equipment at their head end and
have provided their subscribers with the latest and greatest in set top box
technology...that's simply not the case, at least out here in the Wild West.
Broadcasters here cannot even apply for the cable over ride exemption
because the cable companies in Nevada's two biggest cities don't have the
equipment that would let them do so. Then there's the wide variety of set
top boxes in homes and businesses as well as the subscribers who don't have
a box at all...

In addition, the local channel operations, studios and control facilities,
that many cable companies used to provide in their communities have
completely gone away in many areas, victims of cutbacks in local budgets.
Yes, I know that the cable companies collect franchise fees to pay for those
channels, but those fees have gone down as residents have dropped their
cable subscriptions and the cities don't want to make up the money out of
their operating funds. I don't know what happens to the money the cable
operators still collect and I've suggested to a couple of local reporters
that they look into the situation, but they barely understand the difference
between broadcast TV and cable. They aren't so good when numbers and budgets
are involved.
Adrienne

"Radio burps, it cries, it needs to be fed all the time, it requires
constant attention, but we love it." Jim Aaron WGLN