KSFY may not be on your small town cable provider

I recently started noticing the scrolls that Sioux Fall local ABC affiliate KSFY was putting out. I wanted to know what the hell was going on. I noticed a familiar name on the list and one that I trust. I finally found the information that I was looking for.

The scrolls are telling customers starting January 1st, 2009, KSFY will not be available on certain cable systems. Long Lines in IA and the SDN Communications provided digital cable service (providing under names such as Santel).

I think charging a large sum of money for over-the-air broadcasts is a load of crap and a poor move on KSFY's part, or at least on the Texas based owner's part. Some of the towns that will be left out because they will not pay their extortion fees are outside of the KSFY tower's footprint. Towns like Mt. Vernon and Woonsocket (Santel Headquarters) are totally outside of the 56 dBu footprint according to the FCC (FCC.gov source link)


Here is what Santel is telling their customers. (Santel source link)

KSFY TV Owners Strong Arm Santel Cable Customers to Pay for Signal That Was Free
Television viewers can’t miss the threat. KSFY television started running on-screen crawls December 5 saying rural South Dakota communities will lose their ABC affiliate programming if small-town cable companies and their rural customers don’t pay up.

Historically broadcast stations have offered their signals for free. That is until the Federal government pushed them to digital delivery by February 2009. In exchange for the digital investment, the Federal government now allows broadcasters to charge cable companies and their customers for delivery of the signal.

While most South Dakota stations have negotiated fairly, rural telephone companies that also offer cable television services say KSFY’s Texas ownership, Hoak Media Corporation, refuses to be reasonable.

“While KSFY has only a quarter of the viewers in the market, its parent company demands that customers pay more than all other area broadcasters combined,” says Ryan Thompson, General Manager of Santel Communications in Woonsocket. “And in Rapid City, the dominant, locally-owned television station isn’t charging anything for the signal delivery because they want to make sure their signal gets delivered to local viewers.”

Thompson says KSFY’s management claims the costs are pennies a day, but when he adds up the charge per cable subscriber the station’s owners are looking to charge South Dakotans in these rural markets a quarter of a million dollars to receive a signal they used to get for free.

“We’re not opposed to paying a fair price,” Thompson says. “We recognize KSFY has costs involved in the digital transition, but its demands are beyond reasonable, especially for South Dakota. They’re the highest in South Dakota and even higher than some national cable stations. Ultimately those costs get passed on to cable customers.”

Here’s what you can do to help! Call KSFY and tell them that you want them to negotiate a fair and reasonable price. Local cable customers can call the station at 1-800-955-KSFY (5739) or 605-336-1300 or email Kelly Manning at kmanning@ksfy.com.