CARRIAGE DUEL PITS COMCAST VS. DETROIT RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS

At center of dispute is refusal by owners of low-power stations WLPC-TV and WHPR-TV (Ch. 68) to continue paying “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in leased access fees while Comcast provided free carriage for 2 other stations, including one run by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. MSO responded by unplugging WHPR-TV in Sept. 2000 and dropping WLPC-TV Jan. 5, then restoring latter within week. Stations were taken off system because they failed to honor contract signed in Dec. 1999, Comcast Regulatory Affairs Vp John Kreucher said, but he added that MSO was in talks with both broadcasters to reach “mutually beneficial” agreement. He declined to describe status of current negotiations.

FCC rules mandate carriage only for qualified LPTV stations that meet requirements in Communications Act, Cable Bureau spokeswoman said. Watkins said since his and Plummer’s stations were in top 10 markets they weren’t certified as qualified stations. Kreucher said reading of law on powers of cities showed they could require broad category of programming to be carried but not specific programming. There also is need to look into body of state law becoming involved in religious programming, he said.

Kreucher said accusation Comcast was unfair in its treatment of 2 African-American-owned stations was incorrect because MSO viewed its part-time carriage of station run by Catholic Archdiocese as “different business model.” “It’s only a contractual dispute based on access offered by a cable company,” spokeswoman for MSO said, noting that various programmers buy time on cable.

Councilman Kenneth Cockrel told us he hadn’t proposed any specific legislation but had suggested, along with Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, that council explore mandating carriage of local LPTV stations for small fee, if not free, in Comcast’s franchise renewal. He conceded that council had no power to mandate carriage but said it could negotiate with Comcast in franchise renewal talks. Members of Congress are being lobbied to have changes made at federal level, he said.

Cockrel said there was no evidence to conclude that episode had racial overtones, but “it’s clear unfair treatment” to 2 African-American-owned stations. He said Comcast officials had clarified to him that free carriage of Catholic station was because it was part-time (8 to 12 hours per week). But, Cockrel said, MSO had no legitimate reason for free carriage of Canadian Bcstg. Network (CBN) station broadcast from Ontario because it wasn’t governed by any FCC regulations. Comcast officials, he said, had explained that CBN had been broadcasting into Detroit for years, was popular and therefore was considered local station. Spokesman for Councilwoman Brenda Scott said she had asked council’s Research & Analysis Dept. to examine idea of incorporating carriage for 2 stations in Comcast’s franchise.

WLPC-TV owner Glen Plummer said he was excited about “potential” results of current talks with Comcast, although it was not exactly “what I wanted or what Comcast would want.” Declining to discuss specific terms, he would say only that talks had “gone beyond carriage in the city to other suburban systems as well.” At same time, he said he was approached City Council members for carriage rights in Comcast’s franchise renewal agreement. WHPR- TV’s R.J. Watkins said Comcast hadn’t offered to restore his analog channel, but “I'm now discussing digital carriage.” Under deal being worked out, he said, he still would have to pay fee, but considerably less than in past. “It’s a kind of barter arrangement,” Watkins said, and it’s workable. He said his lawyer had sent letter to all council members detailing how city had power to incorporate carriage of low-power stations in Comcast’s franchise agreement.