KRISTV.com

Attention Time Warner Cable and former CoBridge customers:

Time Warner Cable dropped KRIS-TV, the CW South Texas, KAJA-Telemundo and KDF. Tell Time Warner now that they refuse to negotiate to carry your favorite local and national news and entertainment, you will switch to Grande, Dish, DirecTV or AT&T.

Updated February 17, 2012

The current situation:

• There has been no progress in the dispute between KRIS and Time Warner Cable to reach a new agreement to carry KRIS, KAJA, CW and KDF.
   
• On February 15, KRIS Communications and our parent company, Cordillera, filed a response with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Time Warner Cable's formal allegations against our company.
   
• As most of you know, Time Warner Cable dropped the stations on December 13th. In January, we took our complaints to the FCC, stating Time Warner was not negotiating in good faith.
   
• Our latest response refutes Time Warner's February 1st claims. Here are excerpts from the 2/15 filing with the FCC:
   
  o First, "Time Warner Cable cannot deny that it dropped the stations despite Cordillera's offer of continued retransmission consent."
   
  o Second, "Time Warner Cable continues to falsely advertise that Cordillera is demanding a 400% rate increase when Time Warner Cable itself admits that it has never before been required to pay per subscriber rates for Cordillera's programming."
   
  o Third, "Time Warner Cable's decision to punish Cordillera for refusing to accept its below market offers... alleging that perfectly truthful advertisements violated the law and threatening legal action if the ads were not changed."
   
• KRIS Communications continues to ask viewers to urge Time Warner Cable to return to the negotiating table or viewers can switch to another cable or satellite provider.
   
• Since Time Warner dropped the stations on December 13th, Time Warner Cable viewers in Corpus Christi have missed our top rated news and weather as well as must-have NBC programming including: 2 key NFL games and Super Bowl XLVI-The most watched program in television history. As we enter into the February sweeps period, Time Warner customers will now miss the original live broadcasts of The Voice, Smash, 30 Rock, Celebrity Apprentice and Saturday Night Live on Time Warner Cable, along with all the great shows on CW, KDF and KAJA.
   
• KRIS management has filed 2 complaints with the Federal Communications Commission. As most of you know, on December 13th, Time Warner dropped KRIS, KAJA, CW and KDF even though they had consent to carry our signals in the midst of retransmission negotiations. It has been more than four weeks since our last proposal to Time Warner and we still have not received a counter offer.
   
• KRIS management has yet to receive a bona fide counter proposal from Time Warner to the offer we sent on January 10th, 2012. We continue to wait for a substantive response from Time Warner on several key points that prevent us from reaching an agreement that is fair to both sides.
   
• MAKE PLANS TO SWITCH NOW! Other local providers are indicating a two to three-week backlog on new installations. To make the switch in time for the Super Bowl, call Grande Communications (www.grandecom.com or 361-334-4600), Dish Network (www.dishnetwork.com or 1-800-823-4929), DirecTV (www.directv.com or 1-888-777-2454), or AT&T (www.att.com or 1-800-288-2020). Also, KRIS-NBC is always available over the air with a VHF antenna.

What are the facts?

• The carriage terms we offered Time Warner Cable are consistent with what other operators pay broadcasters across the country, and in Corpus Christi, and reflects fair compensation for our programming.
   
• Our offer is below what Time Warner Cable pays for other cable networks with viewership far lower than that of KRIS-NBC, the CW South Texas, KDF, and KAJA-Telemundo.
   
• Our offer to Time Warner Cable is consistent with agreements we have with other cable operators in the market who recognize the value of the programming offered by our four stations.
   
• KRIS-TV's carriage agreement with Time Warner expired on December 12, 2011. Time Warner is no longer interested in carrying our stations. WHY? You'd have to ask Time Warner. Call them at (800) 222-5355.
   
• KRIS-TV granted Time Warner consent to continue carrying all of its stations. Time Warner dropped us anyway. On December 13, 2011, Time Warner dropped KRIS-NBC, CW South Texas, and KDF.

What is the problem?

• KRIS-TV and Time Warner are negotiating a new long-term carriage agreement. Time Warner does not want to pay fair value for our programming.
   
• KRIS-NBC, the CW South Texas, and KDF offer some of the highest rated, most popular programming on Time Warner's cable system.
   
  o KRIS-TV provides the most local news, weather and sports of any station in South Texas. It also includes the Today Show, the Tonight Show, and NBC's primetime programming including The Voice, Smash, 30 Rock, Celebrity Apprentice and The Biggest Loser.
   
  o CW South Texas's program lineup includes Vampire Diaries and America's Next Top Model, as well as 6 News @ 9pm.
   
  o KDF offers Corpus Christi's only 9 p.m. local news, NBA San Antonio Spurs games, and ACC Basketball and Football.
   
• KRIS-TV has offered Time Warner fair and realistic terms for carriage of its highly rated local television stations. Like any business, KRIS-TV cannot afford to sell its valuable content at levels far below market value content that Time Warner then resells the KRIS content to its customers for a profit.

What can I do?

• Tell Time Warner to stop delaying, put our stations back on its lineup, and RESUME NEGOTIATING with KRIS-TV. Otherwise, tell Time Warner that you are changing providers. Time Warner charges you a lot of money to watch your favorite television shows. It now refuses to include the best sports, entertainment and news programming on television. Why should you pay top dollar for its service?
   
• You can register a complaint via the form below, and we will forward it to Time Warner. Or, call Time Warner at (800) 222-5355.
   
• Other cable and satellite operators will continue to provide KRIS-TV, including Grande Communications (www.grandecom.com or 361-334-4600), Dish Network (www.dishnetwork.com or 1-800-823-4929), DirecTV (www.directv.com or 1-888-777-2454), and AT&T (www.att.com or 1-800-288-2020).
   
• All of our stations are available over the air with an antenna for free.

What is next?

• OUR HANDS ARE TIED. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO UNTIL TIME WARNER AGREES TO NEGOTIATE AGAIN IN GOOD FAITH. Tell Time Warner to resume good faith negotiations for carriage of the KRIS stations.
   
• We continue to offer the most local news weather and sports in South Texas as well as providing the best entertainment programming on television.

Time Warner recently purchased the CoBridge system and their subscribers. We are sorry that the former CoBridge customers are now also being subjected to our dispute with Time Warner. Remember, you can receive our stations off air or via an alternative provider.

Please call Time Warner for more details at 800-222-5355.

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