Published: October 03, 2008 11:34 pm         

WTHI-TV, Time Warner still at odds on contract

TERRE HAUTE — Cable customers throughout Vigo County saw a black screen with scrolling text where WTHI-TV used to be Friday.

Representatives from both parties said negotiations are ongoing, and both claim the public is on their side.

Irene Christophers, general manager of Time Warner Cable’s Terre Haute office, saw long lines at the Wabash Avenue office to receive a free antenna and A/B switch so customers can watch the WTHI-TV signal without switching to satellite.

“Yeah, we did,” she said, acknowledging that the office ran out of the antennas by the afternoon, handing out more than 1,000.

“We’re expecting deliveries tomorrow and Monday,” she said. “If they watch [WTWO] there will be a message on there about when more antennas will be available.”

“What it’s telling us is our customers agree with the decision we’re making,” she said of the rush. “They’re staying with us, which is a good thing.”

After a contract dispute, Time Warner Cable no longer has a legal right to retransmit WTHI-TV or several other stations owned by LIN TV Corp.

The station went off the cable system early Friday morning after the parties failed to reach an agreement late Thursday.

LIN TV seeks about 30 cents per month per customer from Time Warner giving the cable company the right to retransmit its signal.

With about 22,000 subscribers in Vigo County, that is about $79,000 in revenue to LIN TV.

Todd Weber, general manager of WTHI-TV said, “It was a sad day today,” noting the station’s first air date in 1954.

The station is still available through DISH satellite, local antennas and all cable customers except those using Time Warner.

According to Weber, about 42 percent of households in the Terre Haute market watch television via satellite.

That market contains about 147,000 households in Vermillion, Vigo, Parke, Sullivan, Knox, Greene, Daviess and Clay counties in Indiana, as well as numerous areas in Illinois.

About 39 percent of the households use cable, he said, but the cable companies providing service vary with each county.

“The response we have had from the community, they understand the importance of having WTHI in their homes,” Weber said. “We want to thank everyone for their tremendous support through this,” he added, noting “thousands” of e-mail streaming into the office off their Web site.

Weber said every three years, broadcast stations negotiate with cable, telephone and other information companies to grant permission for the rebroadcast of their signal.

LIN TV has contracts with every other company with whom it deals except Time Warner, he said.

“They’ve known since August,” he said, adding that WTHI-TV sent numerous offers before the Thursday deadline. “It’s common and becoming more common,” he said of tenuous negotiations between cable companies and broadcasters.

Christopher agreed that these kind of disputes are becoming more usual.

“It’s kind of normal,” she said, noting the 1992 Cable Act that grants broadcasters the bargaining power has led to escalation in the negotiations over the past 16 years.

“Right now, we’re doing everything we can to get this situation resolved,” she said. “We negotiate in good faith.”

Time Warner has “mutually beneficial” agreements with [WTWO-TV] and other area companies, she said, noting that about 25,000 households use Time Warner throughout Terre Haute, West Terre Haute, Riley and parts of unincorporated Vigo County.

And free antennas will be back on supply at the cable office over the weekend, so Time Warner customers can continue to watch WTHI-TV “for free,” she said.

Meanwhile, a war of words continues online.

“LIN TV is seeking millions of dollars in programming that is available for free with an antenna. Much of it is also available for free on the Web. With the broadcasters’ advertising business suffering and broadcast TV ratings falling, LIN TV is quite simply trying to maintain their profits on the backs of our customers,” Christopher said on the local Time Warner Web site. “We’re on our customers’ side. WTHI is just trying to make more money.”

On the WTHI-TV Web site, Weber states, “We are disappointed in the outcome of our negotiations with Time Warner, especially since we have successfully reached deals with every major cable, satellite and telecommunications company who recognize our fair market value. Without fair and equitable treatment, local TV stations will not be able to continue to provide top quality news, sports, entertainment and other local programming.”

Both Weber and Christophers said negotiations were occurring at the corporate level of both companies and are expected to last throughout the weekend.

Neither could speculate on a timeline for an agreement.

Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.