Time Warner Ohio subscribers missing the big game...again
By Richard Lawler 
posted Nov 18th 2006 6:54PM
posted Nov 18th 2006 6:54PM
Even as most of us get set in front of our HDTVs to watch the very Game of the Century we bought them to watch, Time Warner customers in central Ohio are left frustrated again. Just like during the Super Bowl, due to the ongoing dispute between the cable company and the owner of the local ABC and Fox affiliates, Sinclair Broadcasting. As we're all too familiar with and our good friends in New Orleans recently found out, some affiliates want cable companies to pay up to provide an HD signal to their customers, while the cable co's refuse to pay for what is already available freely over the air. In Ohio, Insight and Wide Open West have made deals with Sinclair to provide HD programming so customers can switch. According to the article, Time Warner has been giving away antennas to interested customers to keep people from switching. Sinclair even plans to start charging to rebroadcast its SD channels, we'll see who blinks first in this standoff or if the FCC somehow steps in.
Same problem here in North Carolina at Sinclair owned WXLV. They are trying to extort money from TWC to carry their HD signal. Probably becase they have little inherent value and are on shaky financial ground.
They are so shady that they don't offer any news broadcast or really any local programming at all. Thank goodness the BCS is on FOX this year. Really, at this point, a show being on ABC here has become a reason not to watch it. All of the other local stations are on TWC in HD. This from a station that covers an area with well over a million people.
Make the customers go down to thier local radio schack and buy that $10 Rabbit ear anteanna.