Satellite TV plans for local channels in lineup

By Scott Moyers

Special to Business Today

Bad news for cable: EchoStar Communications Corp. started dishing out local television channels like KFVS and KBSI through its satellite services April 30, and DirecTV plans to do the same by the end of the year.

But Charter Communications insists there are still advantages to its cable service, even as it announces plans to lay off five to 10 people and direct calls from its Cape Girardeau office to another state in a move to streamline operations and improve service.

Subscribers to EchoStar's DISH Network can add local channels to their package, including KFVS-12 (CBS), WSIL-3 (ABC), WDKA-49 (WB), WKPD-29 (PBS), KBSI-23 (Fox), and WTCT-27 (TBN). They are still negotiating with WPSD-6 (NBC) and the KFVS-owned UPN station, which is Channel 33 in Cape Girardeau and for now can only be received by cable.

The service change is to the Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg-Mount Vernon market and is available to 15 Missouri counties: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Stoddard and Wayne.

"We've been looking at that market for some time," said Michelle Portillo, a spokeswoman for EchoStar in Littleton, Colo. "We're glad to be there, and we're glad to offer local channels now." She said that the charge for local channels will cost subscribers an extra $4.99 a month until they reach an agreement with WPSD, probably by mid-May, and then it will be $5.99 a month.

It would cost roughly a total of $55 to get 100 channels, including premium channels like HBO, and the local channels, she said. Charter's rates are within a dollar or two for similar service.

DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said his company will add local channels by the end of the year. DirecTV is waiting to get a new satellite into space that will make it possible to provide local channels to the area.

"This now gives the customer a real alternative to the local cable provider," Mercer said from his Los Angeles office. "The number one reason why customers are not satellite customers today is that they live in a market where they can't get local channels via satellite."

Dave Miller, Charter Communications vice president of operations for less densely populated areas of Missouri, counters that cable has provided local channels for no extra fee for years.

"Local channels? Big deal," he said. "We've got local channels. We've had local channels."

However, the changes in satellite programming come at an interesting time for the local Charter office, which this summer will become a "payment only" center.

"That sounds more onerous than it is," Miller said. "Operationally, all it means is we no longer will be taking phone calls in the Cape Girardeau office. The customer will really never notice the difference."

Instead, calls will be forwarded to a call center in Rochester, Minn., where Miller said the staff is more trained and knowledgeable to deal with the expanding services that Charter has added, like high-speed Internet service and high-definition television.

"These people will be better equipped to deal with the technology," Miller said. "The office in Cape will still be open as a full-service center."

Customers can still walk in to the office at 1620 N. Kingshighway and pay bills, pick up receiver boxes and have access to technical staff members, Miller said.

The change will also enable customers to check account balances over the phone system without having to wait for operators, as well as order new service. The call will track the customer, and account information will be pulled by the time the operator answers the phone. None of that technology was available in the Cape Girardeau office.

Some of the people who dealt with phone calls at the Cape Girardeau office will have to be fired, Miller said. He said he didn't know exactly how many, only that it would "definitely be less than 10 and maybe even less than five."

Miller said the change will take place sometime in June or July.

Anita Lamont, a Charter spokeswoman in St. Louis, said that Charter already competes with satellite companies that offer local channels in other parts of the country.

"The personal service we give will continue to be a huge plus," she said. "I don't want to dis the other side, but I think personal service is something we do much better."

Lamont said that often people feel the need to try satellite, but many return to cable.

"They go and come back," she said. "You don't know how often that happens."

Unlike satellite companies, Charter doesn't require a signed yearlong contract that often carries penalties for cancellation. Satellite service has also been criticized for poor reception during storms.

The cable company also pays 5 percent of its gross to the city of Cape Girardeau. Last year, that meant $276,790 to the city, said spokeswoman Tracey Glenn. If more people jump ship to satellite, Glenn said it could have adverse effects on the city budget.

"I guess it would depend on how many switched," Glenn said. "Our 5 percent will go down proportionate to the number of people who stop subscribing cable."

Glenn also noted that people who switch to satellite won't have access to the city's cable-access channel, which broadcasts City Council meetings and has informational programming about city services and policies.

But both satellite companies said that in markets where local channels are added, they saw "significant" gains. They said that customers also like the better, digital picture - only 40 percent of cable channels are digital; the rest are analog.

One regional TV station manager said he would just be glad to get programming to a wider audience.

"It's beneficial for TV stations to be over the air, via cable or home satellite systems," said Dwayne Stice, assistant to vice president of programming for WPSD in Paducah.

WPSD is still negotiating to be on EchoStar's package.

Mike Smythe, the vice president and general manager for KFVS, said it will be good for people who live in rural areas and can't get cable.

"I think it's going to make our viewers even happier," Smythe said. "I'm pleased with it."

Scott Moyers is business editor at the Southeast Missourian.