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KXAN back on Suddenlink Cable
After months of wrangling, KXAN and Suddenlink Cable have reached a retransmission agreement, and now viewers in Pflugerville, Georgetown and Leander can watch weatherman Jim Spencer again. And for the first time, they can see KXAN in high-definition.
KXAN was bumped off the Suddenlink system in Williamson County on Dec. 31, leaving viewers without NBC programming for almost a week, until NBC station KCEN in Temple joined Suddenlink’s lineup. Neither KXAN’s corporate owner LIN Television nor the Missouri-based Suddenlink would divulge details of the arrangement. But effective Tuesday, KXAN’s local news, syndicated programming and NBC shows were back up and running in 30,000 Suddenlink households.
“The terms are confidential, but I will say we’ve always stated that it’s about fair market value, and we’ve received fair market value,” said Eric Lassberg, general manager of KXAN.
The dispute between Suddenlink and KXAN did not affect the more than 300,000 households in Central Texas that have Time Warner Cable.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment Categories: Local news
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By Mary
April 14, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
Oh well, I am used to watching KVUE now!!!!!
Only turn the channel to KXAN for Jay Leno, which is no big deal, since I was able to watch it before.
Is gonna take a while for me to return to Valles, Spencer and Hadlock...............
By Bob
March 26, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
"...and now viewers in Pflugerville, Georgetown and Leander can watch weatherman Jim Spencer again...KXAN was bumped off the Suddenlink system in Williamson County ..."
Pflugerville is not in Williamson County.
By Alan
March 25, 2008 10:05 PM | Link to this
On standard cable, KCEN in Temple didn't transmit widescreen NBC shows like ER or SNL in 16x9 aspect ratio. Instead, when a program would begin, the screen would revert to the old 4x3 aspect ratio, thus cutting off the sides of the screen. For example, the opening credits for SNL were unreadable - only the middle portion of each name would appear, because they stretched out beyond both sides of the TV screen. Also, only partial views of a character's face would appear in a close-up, while some scenes would take place partially off-screen! Thank heavens this was rectified before new network programming resumed! It would have driven me nuts...
By txstm
March 25, 2008 8:55 PM | Link to this
YEAH! Welcome back, Jim!
By Morris
March 25, 2008 5:53 PM | Link to this
Lordy...just a short time ago today and by accident I hit the wrong button (04 in Georgetown which used to be KXAN on Suddenlink) and guess what...KXAN was on! Huh? Yep after visiting KXAN, Suddenlink and Statesman web sites it appears to be true!
WELCOME BACK KXAN!
Morris
By Adam Churchin
March 25, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this
Its about damn time. The NBC affiliate out of Waco is terrible. Hello Michelle!!!
Adam
By Michael
March 25, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this
I think its funny that KXAN wants more money than the other networks yet NBC is in dead last for prime time ratings.
By Josh
March 25, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
Now if LIN TV could just do the same thing with Directv and Dish Network, all of central Texas could be happy.
By Mike
March 25, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this
Jim Spencer??? I want to see Michelle Valles.
Thank god, I was sick of that Waco station.
By Adam
March 25, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this
Thank Freaking GOD!!!!!!!
By sr
March 25, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
It is about time. People in Pflugerville/Georgetown are not interested in weather in Waco. Nor are most of us interested in companies in Waco or the Baylor Bears. We want local news and advertisements and local programming. Suddenlink took way too long to get KXAN back on the air.
By WhatTheDeuce
March 25, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
I liked the KCEN broadcast better. Spencer tends to embelish the weather a little too much (big winter snap last year). He does a great job of scaring my wife and 8 year old daughter so that the can't sleep because of the "3 in 5 chance of seeing a tornado". Please Jim, I think there were too many trips to the Honor Bar at the KXAN Party Shack, err Weather Hotel.
By Suddenlink Sam
March 25, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this
Woohoo! No I can finally get Ellen McNamara's wonderful traffic reports before there is any traffic. I don't know how I would make it to work without those reports during the horrible Austin traffic between 5 AM and 7 AM. Also, her reports about gas station prices are about as relevant. Does anyone drive 20 miles out of their way to save 5 cents a gallon? I'm actually going to miss the Waco/Temple NBC station that filled the void.
By Alan
March 25, 2008 3:49 PM | Link to this
KCEN in Temple had the annoying habit of playing 16x9 aspect ratio TV shows in standard 4x3 aspect ratio, thus cutting off graphics, etc.