Good News for WNEP Newswatch 16 Service Electric Cablevision/CATV Viewers!
Update: December 29, 2012
We are pleased to announce that WNEP and Service Electric Cablevision /CATV have come to terms on an agreement.
No disruption of our signal is expected.
WNEP-TV would like to thank all of our loyal viewers for their overwhelming support. We are proud to serve all of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
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Service Electric Cablevision/CATV Customers: You deserve better.
December 28, 2012
The bottom line:
Service Electric Cablevision/CATV says WNEP isn’t worth 4-cents a day for all of our local programming and content.
These are market rates.
Service Electric Cablevision/CATV likely pays much more than this to networks like ESPN and TNT, and nearly as much to networks you probably never watch.
If Service Electric Cablevision/CATV wants to spend your monthly cable payment for things like SPEED, Bravo and E-Entertainment instead of WNEP, maybe it’s time to send your cable check to someone else.
The whole story:
WNEP is your neighbor – we work here every day and employ 100’s of people in and around Wilkes Barre Scranton. We invest millions of dollars in our news and programming to bring you the best in the market.
Based on information publically available, cable companies, including SECV, pay retransmission fees to the owners of the channels that they carry, even those with few viewers. We understand that companies like SECV pay as high as $4.00-$5.00 per subscriber per month for ESPN and related ESPN Networks, and around $1.00 per subscriber per month for TNT These channels don’t offer you any local programming, they don’t employ local people, and they don’t provide any public service, like the coverage of Hurricane Sandy. We are asking for a small percentage of what SECV pays for ESPN, even though our ratings are much higher than ESPN and TNT. In fact, WNEP reaches 7x the audience that both ESPN and TNT does!
SECV claims that our request for fair compensation will increase your cable bill. Like all cable and satellite companies, SECV is already charging you to receive WNEP as part of your monthly bill. SECV has the right to charge you what the going rate is for cable and they are responsible for how they bundle and sell their product; regardless of how many of the networks that you pay for are important to you. We do not control how SECV manages its business. We simply require that SECV pay a fair market price for our content, just as its competitors do; and just as it pays networks that are forced on you in your basic packages.
We will continue to negotiate with SECV in good faith in an effort to successfully complete a deal with them without disruption to you. You, the viewer are very important to us. We will continue to update you as we feel it’s important to make sure WNEP is available to you, even if it’s through another provider, or over the air.
Thanks again for your support. Please continue to check this site for updates.
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For viewers who are new to the conversation:
Service Electric Cablevision/CATV Customers may lose WNEP at Midnight New Year’s Eve.
December 27, 2012
WNEP Newswatch 16 Friends — we know you love WNEP.
A dispute with Service Electric Cablevision & CATV could knock your favorite programming off the air at Midnight on New Year’s Eve! Service Electric Cablevision & CATV and WNEP are in negotiations for fair compensation for the great programming we provide like “LIVE” with Kelly and Michael, Ellen, the View, Home and Backyard, Pennsylvania Outdoor Life, Modern Family, Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, as well as your favorite local news, Newswatch 16!
Service Electric Cablevision & CATV may be telling you that WNEP is asking for huge rate increases for the programming that we provide. The truth is, less than four cents a day of your cable bill goes to pay for WNEP. Tell Service Electric Cablevision & CATV to stop overpaying for the channels you don’t watch like Women’s Entertainment, Ovation, and the Independent Film Channel – which cost about the same as WNEP!
WNEP has reached agreements with every other provider in this market.
If WNEP does not reach an agreement with Service Electric Cablevision & CATV by 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 1st, by law, Service Electric Cablevision & CATV cannot carry this station on its system.
We’d hate for you to miss the ball drop on New Year’s Eve! Time is running out, if you’d like to make a switch, here are other providers we will continue to provide programming to:
Dish Network: 1-800-823-4929
http://www.dish.com/
DirecTV: 1-888-777-2454
http://www.directv.com/
Comcast: 1-800-934-6489
http://www.comcast.com/
We appreciate you, our loyal viewers, and hope to still provide the best local news and ABC programming to you whatever way we can.
Your questions answered
Question: Why are you informing viewers that your contract with Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV is expiring?
Answer: Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV contract to carry WNEP expires on December 31, 2012 at 12 am. We believe it is our duty to inform our viewers when a contract deadline approaches and a new agreement has not yet been reached.
Question: What if an agreement cannot be reached by the time the contract expires?
Answer: By law, Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV cannot carry WNEP on its CABLE system without a contract.
Question: Why have you not yet reached an agreement with Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV
Answer: First you should know we have reached an agreement with all other cable and satellite providers and it is only your service that is in question. We continue to negotiate for the fair market value of our station. For many years, we have been providing viewers with around-the-clock news, political coverage, weather, public service announcements, as well as high quality local and national programming. Despite our high ratings and service to the community, we are compensated far less than most cable networks. Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV profits by including broadcast stations like WNEP in its line-up. Like any other business, Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV should pay fair market value for the ability to resell our stations’ programming to you.
Question: What do you mean fair market value?
Answer: The fair value we are asking for amounts to pennies a day per station, per subscriber. Remember, Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV also charges you for dozens of channels you have probably never seen and others you hardly watch at all. The rates we are asking for are a fraction of what Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV probably pays for many of those networks. Local broadcasters around the country are negotiating for fair compensation and an even playing field with pay-TV providers so that we can continue to provide you with your favorite programming. It costs a substantial amount of money to produce local programming, bid for top-quality programming, invest in high-definition, and make other upgrades to equipment and technology so we can deliver a superior product. We must be on the same level playing field as cable networks so we can continue to provide top quality news, sports, entertainment, and other local programming that is most important to you.
Question: Why should Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV pay for a signal that is available for free to over-the-air viewers?
Answer: WNEP is an important part of your television viewing, and without WNEP, you would likely not pay Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV what you pay them today. Service Electric Cablevision Vision/CATV pays us less than $0.04 (four cents) a day to carry our signal. In fact, they pay other Network programs that you don’t even watch, much more than that! You can still keep watching WNEP for free over the air and in HD!
If you still have questions that haven’t been answered above, feel free to post to our Facebook wall here: WNEP on Facebook
