THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200398
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
About 2,500 Currituck County cable users may again be in the dark when it comes to their favorite NBC programs.
``Seinfeld,'' ``E.R.'' and even the Super Bowl may be off the air for the county's Cablevision customers if an agreement between their cable operator and a local network affiliate isn't reached by next week.
Most Cablevision customers received a letter this month notifying them that they may lose WAVY TV-10 after Dec. 31.
``Do something so these people won't call us so much,'' urged Eldon Miller, speaking to Kathy Wynn, an area Cablevision manager, at Monday's Board of Commissioners meeting. Miller is chairman of the board.
Wynn said discussions, for the first time, will take place locally this week between the two companies.
``This is a very positive step for us because that is something we were not able to do'' before, Wynn said.
This isn't the first time the county has become ensnared in a dispute between one of the country's biggest cable companies and WAVY, which is owned by Rhode Island-based Lin Broadcasting.
In October 1993, Cablevision was forced to pull the plug on WAVY broadcasts after a federal law went into effect allowing local broadcasters to seek compensation from cable operators for broadcasting their programming.
Most other northeastern North Carolina viewers caught in the feud were still able to receive NBC programming through another regional affiliate, Washington's WITN.
But Currituck County, which is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan statistical area, lies within WAVY's broadcast domain.
In 1994, Cablevision entered an agreement with WAVY to continue broadcasting in Currituck at no additional charge to customers.
That contract ends next week.
Commissioner Paul O'Neal reminded Wynn that many Currituck County residents shopped in Virginia.
``We do patronize the many businesses of Hampton Roads, Va., that advertise on their TV station,'' he said.
Only mainland Currituck is affected by the possible cable blackout. Knotts Island residents are served by Cox Cable, and the Currituck Outer Banks is served by Falcon Cable. by CNB