With the launch of the West Virginia Channel less than a month away, officials with West Virginia Public Broadcasting are trying to convince a number of cable television operators in the state to carry the channel.
Public Broadcasting General Manager Scott Finn told the state Educational Broadcasting Authority Wednesday that only about half of cable TV subscribers in the state will have the new channel, which replaces WVPB2, on their cable lineups.
"We're hopeful we'll be able to expand that," he said.
Finn said he and state cable TV lobbyist Mark Polen, a former EBA member, met with cable operators last week to pitch the new channel, which will be available Jan. 1.
While WVPB2 primarily offers alternate broadcast times for programming already on WVPB, the West Virginia Channel will have original, state-oriented programming, beginning in January with gavel-to-gavel coverage of House of Delegates and Senate floor sessions during the 2016 legislative session, anchored by Beth Vorhees.
"We're going to be covering a lot more West Virginia events," Finn said.
Afterward, Finn said some cable operators have technical issues in being to pick up an adequate over-the-air signal for WVPB2/West Virginia Channel, while others are reluctant to add a third public broadcasting channel to their basic cable lineups.
Suddenlink, for instance, provides WVPB2 to subscribers in the Charleston market, but not to its subscribers in the Parkersburg or Beckley areas, and most of southern West Virginia, Finn said.
Under FCC must-carry rules, Suddenlink has to provide two public broadcasting channels in its Charleston area lineup, since both WPBY-TV in Charleston-Huntington and WSWP-TV Beckley can be picked up over-the-air in the region.
Finn said that Suddenlink opted to carry WVPB2 rather than have two channels of duplicate programming.
In the Parkersburg area, however, Suddenlink is required to carry WPBY-TV and WOUB-TV from Athens, Ohio, and the cable operator has opted not to offer WVPB2 in addition to those channels, Finn said.
Finn said he's hopeful the original, state-oriented programming on the West Virginia Channel will encourage cable operators to add the channel, particularly since the channel will not be available from any satellite TV providers.
He encouraged members of the EBA and Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting to "write friendly reminders" to their local cable operators asking them to add the West Virginia Channel.
While the West Virginia Channel will initially broadcast in standard definition, on channel 5 for Suddenlink subscribers in the Charleston area, Finn said the channel will upgrade to high definition broadcasts within the next year, which will require a move to one of the cable system's high definition tiers.
Also Wednesday:
n Finn said he is initiating a "Plus 5, Minus 5" campaign, calling on all department heads to find ways to increase revenue by 5 percent and cut expenses by 5 percent in the next year, in anticipation of continued state funding cuts for public broadcasting for at least the next two years.
"We see it coming, and we have plenty of time to adjust course to deal with it," he said of state budget cuts.
Currently, state appropriations provide about $4.7 million of WVPB's $10.7 million total operating budget.
n A subcommittee studying the possibility of adding a public television mobile production facility recommended indefinitely postponing any purchase of a satellite TV truck due to state finances. "Now may not be the time to move forward on that," advised board member Corley Dennison.
He said the primary concern presently is not the cost of purchasing the truck, but that WVPB would need to hire two new full-time employees to operate it.
Reach Phil Kabler
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