WPBS Watertown to be removed from Ottawa cable system

[jiminCT]

OK..so this is half New York and half Canadian related, but the story focuses around the fact that WPBS gets 70% of its pledge drive funding from Ottawa. This could be a crippling blow to the station if Rogers Cable goes through with their plan. WTVS-Detroit is replacing WPBS. The Watertown station has been carried in Ottawa for 30 years and caters to the programming wishes of its Canadian viewers...including a few British shows.

 

[dustintv]

Wow that is shocking. That's gotta be a blow to WPBS' funding! I've heard that WQLN down in Erie is being removed from Canadian cable as well, also replaced by WTVS. The interesting thing from other discussion boards and a couple of articles including from the newspaper in Watertown is that Rogers hasn't really given a reasonable explanation for dropping WQLN and WPBS other than WTVS "coming in better".

With the economy still in troubled waters this is not good for funding of these two small-market PBS stations.

And how long before WNED gets replaced by WTVS too?

 

[azumanga]

...Rogers hasn't really given a reasonable explanation for dropping WQLN and WPBS other than WTVS "coming in better".

Other explanations include WTVS carrying the same programs and having a "more robust" selection of shows.

With the economy still in troubled waters this is not good for funding of these two small-market PBS stations.

Especially WQLN, as the Pennsylvania legislature is eliminating funding for public television in that state.

 

[dustintv]

Other explanations include WTVS carrying the same programs and having a "more robust" selection of shows.

The only interesting bits I've read was on a Canadian TV message board. One included a vague morsel about WTVS being cheaper to carry and the other was a couple speculative posts that WTVS and Rogers have made some sort of an agreement(unlikely). Whatever the actual case, Rogers doesn't seem to give a darn about either WPBS or WQLN and an apparently significant number of complaints coming from Ottawa viewers. With the relaxation of CRTC rules Canadian TV may be entering a new era.

Especially WQLN, as the Pennsylvania legislature is eliminating funding for public television in that state.

What has happened in Pennsylvania is pitiful! While I don't know how badly bigger stations like WQED, WITF, and WVIA have been affected (other than some news about cuts at WQED), this is most certainly terrible for WQLN. Erie's been depressed since the 80s, and WQLN has long been reliant on it's Canadian viewers as much as WPBS has been. Now the station's future along with WPSU in State College is in jeopardy.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I've heard that the issue is delivery. In the case of WQLN, Rogers insists that rebroadcasting the OTA digital signal is unacceptible. I've also heard that WQLN has been slow to adopt HD. Rogers can get a direct digital feed from WTVS, and wider distribution of that feeds defrays the cost among more viewers.

PBS is PBS. The amount of local content on these stations is shrinking as budget cuts hit home. If there's little differentiation between content, it's not hard to see why Rogers would prefer to deal with one program supplier instead of several.

Another "light at the end of the tunnel that turns out to be an onrushing locomotive" for public broadcasting is Internet distribution of programming as podcasts or streams. As high speed Internet becomes more widely available, and as the PBS/NPR audience continues to evolve digitally, local stations become less important IF they don't have any value-added content to add to the network programming.

Cable/satellite carriage rules need to make sure that local stations have equal access to the audience. Local stations need to make sure that THEIR websites are well-designed and user-friendly so that they become the NPR/PBS portal, not the national site.

The real danger is that budget cuts - like those in Pennsylvania - are turning local PBS/NPR outlets into little more than repeaters.

 

[azumanga]

PBS is PBS. The amount of local content on these stations is shrinking as budget cuts hit home. If there's little differentiation between content, it's not hard to see why Rogers would prefer to deal with one program supplier instead of several.

Though of course, there are some PBS stations that show less kids' programming in the afternoon (I read somewhere that WTVS shows kids shows all day, while WPBS and WQLN regulate them to mornings and late-afternoons only), or even less (or no) Britcoms on weekends (a major draw for WQLN).

The real danger is that budget cuts - like those in Pennsylvania - are turning local PBS/NPR outlets into little more than repeaters.

Or worse -- WQLN is scared that the Rogers and Harrisburg cuts would create a "perfect storm" that would lead to outright closure of the station.

 

[jiminCT]

The worst case scenario in the WPBS case (the focus of the thread...) is that WCNY in Syracuse might use it as a relay. I cant imagine the PBS stations shutting down though.

 

[azumanga]

The worst case scenario in the WPBS case (the focus of the thread...) is that WCNY in Syracuse might use it as a relay. I cant imagine the PBS stations shutting down though.

Personally, I don't see WPBS being sold off anytime soon -- if Rogers does succeed in dropping the station, they still have the Cogeco systems from Kingston to Cornwall, as well as Videotron in Gatineau and the Outaouais. But the station would still take a sizeable hit from losing Rogers subscribers in Ottawa.

 

[jiminCT]

NEw York State would never let the station fail. They seem to find money even through the worst of financial circumstances. Besides..they cant even cut a budget with a 17 billion dollar deficit ;D