Eric, actually, there was an earlier occasion ... 10-15 years ago, when KMID-TV was still a dominant #1 in the market ... and we were unsuccessful then, too (I say we because I was a writer-producer with Big 2 at the time) ...

I'm offering the following from the broadcaster's side of the argument, back then ... they get our product for free, then turn around and sell it to their subscribers ...

KMID's efforts are not unprecedented, and they are not uncommon ... it's been tried by stations, big and small, in markets across the country ... and I don't know if any of them were successful ...

Oh, I'm sure that both sides are righteous in their arguments. But you can really take KMID's to a silly extreme. Would they, for example, want to charge retailers a special fee for selling antennae that will pick up the broadcast signal? ;-)

From my perspective, this is just a spitting match between two media players who need each other, and the consumer is caught in the middle. But given the current state of broadcast TV in general, I'd really think twice if I was Big 2 before cutting off several thousand viewers.

Reasonable minds may differ.

Down here in Pecos, when KMID lost its space on the microwave relay tower near Notrees that transmitted the signal into town, the company refused to spend any money or even work with Cebridge Cable on finding an alternate way to get the signal into the area (even to the point of turning down the donation of an unused antenna on the Anderson Ranch southwest of Wink to use as a translator station). Cebridge eventually ended up signing a deal to carry WABC out of New York as the local ABC station, which has worked out fine as far as picture quality goes, and I haven't found anyone who really misses Big 2 news, since they can still watch local news on Ch. 7 or Ch. 9. But it's not-so-hot this fall if you're trying to watch Big 12 regional games on Saturdays and end up with Penn State football instead.

Even though Cebridge is about to take over Cox's cable operations in Midland, I don't believe they can do the same thing there in a game of chicken with KMID, if they start trying to play hardball with them, due to the must-carry reuirements by the FCC for local stations that provide adequate signals. But it does show what a bunch of cheap weasels are running things over at KMID right now.

John, thanks for sharing that perspective. It still boggles my mind that a station could be so cavalier about its viewers. I'm sure advertisers just love hearing stories like that.

Eric, what's really strange is KMID's Midland-Odessa main antenna is located right next to KPEJ's towner near the State Highway 158-FM 1788 interchange north of the airport. Both are too distant to get into the Pecos Valley due to the 400 foot drop in elevation (Ch. 7 and Ch. 9's towers are west of Odessa), but KPEJ beams its signal over the valley to an antenna on Gomez Peak, at the I-10 I-20 junction, and a translator station there bounces the signal into the area from Pecos to Van Horn.

It's not the greatest signal at times, and bad weather up on the mountain can knock it out for a day or so, but at least the local Fox station is trying to do something. KMID told Cebridge if they wanted their signal, wait until Direct TV began sending the Midland-Odessa TV channels via satellite to their Permian Basin customers and buy the feed from them (never mind the question of whether a satellite service is going to come to the aid the local cable company). Either it's just an incredibly skinflint operation, or they can't manage their finances as well as Ch. 24. They certainly can't manage their viewer relations as well.

Interesting. I've also noticed over the years that KMID's picture quality via our cable connection is significantly worse than the other local stations, and I've never understood why.

As a former employee of KMID, I can tell you that the station is definitely run by people that have no concern except making money. Why do you think they are having this fight? Why do you think the weekend show was cancelled? Why do you think the staff was reduced? The management realized they could make a couple extra bucks by just running national programming, and screwing local viewers, so that's exactly what they did. And I guarantee you if you ask any current or recent employee, they will all tell you that the management is driving the station into the ground. KMID was a dominant number 1 station just a matter of years ago...now it is nothing but a joke.

Bob and I are members of the largest media group in the Permian Basin, the "Big 2 Alumni Association."

Eric, talking to some cable subscribers in Monahans, and with the Cebridge officials, they both say KMID's signal barely gets down to that system, and it's only about 50 miles from the antenna.

Their signal (and KPEJ's) are pointed more towards the northeast and Big Spring, so coverage to the southwest isn't going to be as good. But they're not even making an attempt to boost their coverage area in the Trans-Pecos, though they did ask Cebridge to keep them listed on the Pecos system on Ch. 95 (You can't see the picture except for a few hours a month at best, but I assume KMID can BS to their advertisers they actually have 8-9,000 more poential viewers in their market area than they actually do have because they are listed).

...the station is definitely run by people that have no concern except making money.

Actually, I have no problem with that. It's when a company forgets that the only long-term approach to doing that (other than getting propped up by government subsidies, but that's another debate for another time) is to bend over backwards to keep its customers happy.

Bob and I are members of the largest media group in the Permian Basin, the "Big 2 Alumni Association."

The initiation ritual sounds horrible. ;-)

...but I assume KMID can BS to their advertisers they actually have 8-9,000 more poential viewers

Do advertisers consider "potential viewers" when deciding on who carries their ads? I figured they paid more attention to actual viewership, and the ratings book would surely point out that all that "potential" is translating into no eyeballs.

But, I admit to being ignorant as to how that all works.

I would assume ratings on specific shows are the main determining factor, though total market share also plays a part, in that you're going to pay more to advertise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, for example, because there is the potential for more eyeballs to be viewing your commercial. KOSA and KTPX both have translator stations in Big Spring serving the eastern Permian Basin, so their market coverage there should be the same, but KMID does not make a similar effort on the other side of Midland-Odessa.

If you do a check, not only of the system here, but of many of the cable systems down in the Davis Mountains area, they also carry Ch. 7 and Ch. 9, but get their ABC signal from some remote source via satellite. So in terms of market coverage in the western Permian Basin and Trans-Pecos, there's about 25,000 or so potential viewers that local advertisers could get with commericals on KOSA or KTPX that they have no chance in getting with the same ad on KMID (and even in Big Spring, where Big 2's signal supposedly should be good, I believe the cable system there carries WFAA from Dallas, which may siphon ABC viewers off of KMID).

In Alpine our one, yes one, cable provider is a company called US Cable.

KMID and KOCV are not carried on the lineup but KOSA and KWES are.

Instead our PBS station comes out of Omaha, Nebraska, and the ABC station is out of Denver, CO.

Now why it is that way I do not know.

I personally think we being a Texas town should have all our stations from Texas. When I lived in San Angelo a few years back the CBS station was out of San Angelo, NBC came from Abilene and ABC from Dallas. Not sure where PBS or Fox came from but the programming was much better than Alpine.

There seems to be a big connection at some level between Alpine and Austin so I dont see why they don't just feed us those stations.

KOSA, KWES, and KPEJ seem to get their stuff here just fine.

Direct TV I think is also an option here, but not for me since I live in an apartment.

...the station is definitely run by people that have no concern except making money.

Let me clarify my statement a little bit.

A local TV news station has a couple main goals...to make money and to provide programming and local news to the local audience. When your general manager has only one of those goals in mind (making money) then there is a problem. When I started there, we were given most of the tools we needed to do our jobs and give the public the news they needed. However, at some point, management decided that having a full staff and functioning equipment cost too much money, and that the corporate office would like it more if they trimmed staff, trimmed shows, and made money. But what is really upsetting is that while management was cutting news staff and local news broadcasts, they were adding shows like the oil report and anderson analysis (calling that a news show is like calling garbage a delightful odor). those shows didn't give much to the viewer, and took away the station's ability to get local news covered. but they made a couple extra bucks, so that is why they stuck.

i could go on for hours about the poor management and how that station was run into the ground. it is really disturbing to watch a small group of people take a great station with hard workers and turn it into a joke.

Bob, I understand where you're coming from. I've also experienced what I perceived to be the ruination of a nimble, focused, well-performing company via the implementation of a new "strategy" that stressed cost-cutting over everything else. It was a common occurrence in the oil business at one time. We had a saying -- you can't make a shark by starving a whale -- which basically meant that sometimes (often) you have to spend money to make money, and it's a rare business that can save its way into prosperity.