Cable provider will continue to transmit ABC affiliate

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- ABC affiliate KQTV will continue to be available over St. Joseph Cablevision after both sides reached an agreement Friday on a three-year retransmission contract.

The agreement, whose details weren't disclosed, averted a blockout of the station on the cable system. The old agreement was set to expire Dec. 31.

At issue is whether cable companies should be required to pay for the right to carry local broadcast stations in the same way that a cable system pays for MTV, CNN or ESPN.

KQTV's owner, Nexstar Broadcasting of Irving, Texas, had sought the payments. But Cablevision, which has the same parent company as the St. Joseph News-Press, had said it didn't want to pay $400,000 over four years for a signal that already was free via antenna.

As the negotiations intensified, Nexstar urged St. Joseph viewers to switch to satellite television, and Cablevision moved forward with plans to provide its own weather and news programming.

"I think both parties would agree that we found a way to get a deal done that provided both parties equal value," said Bill Severn, general manager of St. Joseph Cablevision.

But he said the deal won't halt efforts to develop weather and news programming.

"We have to develop a unique news and information product," Severn said. "We have been working at a fever pitch to ensure that our customers would have access to local news, weather and information. Now that we've struck a deal, we'll continue with that mission.

"We have a little more time to prepare."

Heather Shearin, general manager of KQTV, said she wasn't concerned about the competition.

"In most cases, competition is a good thing," she said. "It makes people sharp and makes people better."

Nexstar's retransmission agreement with Carson Communications also was set to expire Dec. 31. But an extension will allow KQTV to remain on the cable lineup in Troy, Wathena, Elwood and other northeast Kansas communities until the end of January.