Rant #2,994: TV OD

The other day, I was watching television, and I received something of a strange notification during a commercial.
 
It was an ad from Verizon, the company that we receive our television service from, and it alerted viewers that unless there was a change of heart by Nexstar, we would soon be losing channels under the Nexstar banner, including our local channel WPIX-TV Channel 11.
 
Verizon claims that Nexstar wants to raise its carriage rates to an unacceptable level, and since Verizon wants to keep its prices down, unless there is an agreement made soon, we would lose these channels by the end of last week.
 
Well, I just happened to go through our channel lineup the other day, and lo and behold, we have lost those channels, including Channel 11.
 
Three is a message on the screen explaining the situation, but right now, Channel 11 and a few other channels provide by Nexstar are gone from Verizon programming, not just on Long Island, but around the country.
 
This is not the first time that this has happened, nor the last time that it will occur, and there is a seemingly constant feud between the companies that bring us our television—satellite, cable and via fiber optic lines—and the providers of programming, like Nexstar.
 
This is a multi-billion-dollar business on both ends of the spectrum, and when the pie is so large, everybody wants not just their fair share, but a piece of the pie that goes beyond a normal portion.
 
And while this fight goes on, subscribers suffer, because there really isn’t very much the average person can do about it, other than ask for a refund for the programming that is now blacked out.
 
Here is what I wrote on Facebook over the weekend about this latest situation:
 
“Verizon on Long Island is in a dollar dispute with Nexstar and while this dispute goes on, Verizon has pulled all Nexstar channels.
Antenna TV and Court TV have been removed, and honestly, I can live without each of them, although I do watch Antenna TV on occasion.
But they also pulled WPIX-TV, Channel 11, the local New York station, and this is a major loss.
In such disputes, pulling the fringe channels doesn't really hurt anybody, but when you pull a major local station, which carries local programming and local news, it is reprehensible.
Blocking a local channel which provides New York-oriented program should be against the law, as viewers are losing a major station with local-centric programming.
And why put viewers in the middle of the dispute? We are probably going to have to shell out more for Nexstar channels in the future, so why not act above board and keep at least Channel 11 on while the negotiations continue?
Once again, the viewers are getting shafted.”
 
About the only good thing is that I, personally, don’t depend on the affected programming that much, but that is clearly not the point.
 
Local programming is vital for viewers to stay connected to what is happening in their respective areas, and Channel 11 has been around for generations as a local provider of programming that taps into the New York Metropolitan Area.
 
It provides news and other programming pegged to this area, and without its presence on Verizon, viewers are losing a vital resource.
 
This type of situation really should never exist; if two sides are going to negotiate in good faith, then viewers should not have programming such as what Channel 11 provides yanked from us like this.
 
At least provide us with Channel 11 until the impasse is settled; I cannot imagine watching New York-centric channels and not being able to watch WPIX along with WCBS, WNBC, WNYW, WABC, and WWOR.
 
And I am not saying that all the programming on the local channels is vital, but it does provide viewers with another news source, maybe another point of view, and not to have it really goes against the grain, as local programming really is the most vital programming on television.
 
The Channel 11 of my youth—Chuck McCann, reruns of “The Abbott and Costello Show” and New York Yankees baseball—is quite different from what the station offers today—not only local programming, but the CW Network too--but it is no less important today than it was in the 1960s.
 
And again, the sad thing is that this is not the first time this has happened, and you just know that it will not be the last.
 
Programmers and providers have still not learned their lesson about depriving viewers of important services, because there really are few repercussions.
 
Sure, a scant amount of viewers will switch to another provider if this goes on too long, but most viewers will simply sit and wait for things to return to normal, if they ever do.
 
It just isn’t right, even though those like Verizon claim that they are doing what they are doing for the good of viewers, and to keep costs down.
 
Costs for these services are way out of line to begin with, so when all is said and done, who is really benefitting from this?
 
Even if you don’t watch Channel 11 and the other channels that are affected, this is a story that bears watching, because the longer it goes, the longer it takes away the rights of viewers to watch—and pay for—stations that they want available to them.
 
Right now, viewers are the pawns of this situation and really, when it comes to programming, we should all be royalty … kings and queens of our own viewing domain.
 
This current situation takes the crown and the power away from us, and that is just plain wrong.