THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280145
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK COUNTY LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Since learning that today's Super Bowl showdown wouldn't be shown on their cable system, some football fans in Currituck County have been rushing to buy satellite dishes and antennas.
Cablevision, which serves four counties in northeastern North Carolina, recently dropped WAVY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Hampton Roads, after negotiations over a retransmission agreement broke down.
Currituck County football fans are bearing the brunt of the dispute: WAVY is their exclusive NBC provider, and the only network televising the Super Bowl. Other affected counties can get NBC on another channel.
But since WAVY - channel 10 - is transmitting the game, Currituck viewers are trying to grab the signal the old-fashioned way.
By Friday, the Radio Shack store in Kitty Hawk had sold 12 antennas and four satellite dishes, manager Scott Lawrence said. He added that the store usually sells about one or two antennas a month and maybe one satellite dish every six months.
But even those fans aren't happy with the arrangement.
``Everyone is just livid,'' said Carol Ahlstrom, owner of Nelson's Restaurant in Point Harbor. ``I mean, there isn't anybody who isn't angry about it.''
Ahlstrom said people blame the cable company, not WAVY, adding that three people told her they were so disgusted with the cable company, that each bought a satellite dish.
``People were flipping out,'' said Barry Nelms, owner of Walnut Island Motel and Restaurant in Grandy. He said many people also told him they were buying antennas and dishes.
Mary Lindsey of Powells Point, calling the whole situation ``a low-down dirty shame,'' said she's going to haul her whole family to the Outer Banks, where Falcon Cable will be carrying the game.
Lindsey said she's not impressed with Cablevision's offer to customers to come out and install at no charge a switch that enables the user to change to antenna reception without unhooking the cable service.
``Why should we have to put up our antenna for just one day?'' Lindsey asked. ``I don't want to use my antenna because there's a chance it'll fuzz up just about the time of kick-off.''
As of Friday, 50 to 75 of the 3,200 Currituck County cable customers had requested the switch, said Kathy Winn, systems manager for Cablevision.
But Nelms said he bought his own switch, climbed up on his roof and scraped the corrosion off his decade-old antenna.
``It works great - clearer than cable, really,'' Nelms said.
Nelms said he has added extra TVs for the Super Bowl party he's planning.
The stalemate between the cable company and the station doesn't look like it will end soon because both sides apparently are entrenched in their positions, which involve unspecified exchanges of money. The impasse is centered around a 1992 law that requires cable companies and broadcasters to come to a mutual agreement about the transmission of signals from television stations.
Cablevision's argument is that it should not have to pay WAVY for a signal that is free to anyone with an antenna. WAVY's argument is that Cablevision already charges a monthly fee for its basic broadcast-only channel, and does not reimburse WAVY for any of the revenues.
Edward Munson, WAVY's president and general manager, said Friday that the station ``would have a very different discussion'' in negotiations if the cable company did not charge for basic broadcast.
But if Cablevision pays WAVY, it would have to pay every network, the company contended.
``We did not pay any broadcasters, and we will not,'' Winn said.
But Cablevision is willing to give a Super Bowl party, Winn said. The party starts at 5 p.m. today and will be at Southland Restaurant on Highway 168 just south of the Virginia border. Pizza, meatballs, vegetable and snack trays, soft drinks, tea and coffee all will be on the company's tab for its cable customers. And a big-screen TV - hooked to an antenna - will be set up for showing the game.
Munson said he thought that was ironic.
``Lo and behold, their viewing party is going to be watching WAVY-TV,'' Munson said. by CNB