IntroductionWASHINGTON: Media General has filed yet another compliant with the FCC against Time Warner Cable over stations dropped by the carrier. The filing alleges TWC violated FCC rules when it dropped WCBD-TV off of systems in Charleston, S.C. The commission requires 30 days notice to the TV station and to subscribers before a signal is dropped.
TWC fired up viewers in coastal South Carolina when it dropped the local NBC and CBS affiliates from select systems in Myrtle Beach. The cable operator dropped WMBT-TV, the NBC owned by Raycom, and WBTW-TV, the CBS owned by Media General. The point, it said, was to eliminate duplicate programming and free up bandwidth for more. In one Myrtle Beach community, WBTW was replaced by MyNetworkTV; in another, the Home Shopping Network.
The TV station was inundated with phone calls, e-mails and letters, SCNow.com said. The station had 1,600 contacts in four days. Representatives of the cable company appear to be making the rounds at county boards and town councils in the coastal area.
More on the TWC carriage scrap:
“Gilland Calls on Time Warner Cable to Return WBTW to Georgetown Systems,”atSCNow.com.
