When Celeste and Tim Rogers, the Lincoln couple who operated CITV 5, went to the station last Friday to tape two area Lincoln Community High School wrestlers who competed in the state tournament, they could not enter the facility. The locks had been changed.
Not only were the couple, along with the wrestlers and their coach, locked out of the building, the equipment they owned was locked inside the building.
The couple was expecting a change, but not quite like what they encountered last Friday.
For more than 10 years, CITV 5 operated under a contract, which stated it would act as its own entity to provide programming of local origination. The contract started with Media One, but eventually landed into the hands of Comcast, when the cable company entered the area.
CITV 5’s contract stated that the cable company was supposed to provide all of the equipment and man-hours necessary to provide the local programming. If the Rogers’ floated this burden, which they had been doing for many years, they were supposed to receive an agreed-upon compensation.
The compensation was never agreed upon, because the Rogers had never asked for it. They happily provided their own equipment and manpower to provide all of the channel’s local programming. They even sent 20 percent of the funds received from their local sponsors to the cable company, even though it took no part in assisting with the programming, according to Celeste Rogers.
One part of the programming that did not sit well with Comcast, said Rogers, was a couple of segments on the Wednesday Night Live, a live call-in show that featured topics about area news and issues.
“People were upset with the service of Comcast and would call in and comment on it,” said Rogers, noting that most comments weren’t considered positive by the company. “One time, a guest — who was an elected official — gave a response that was not necessarily degrading to Comcast, but it was about their rates.
“The Lincoln (Comcast) facility did not like that.”
The company let Rogers know it did not want anyone saying anything against Comcast. At one time, Rogers said, a representative from the cable company scolded CITV 5 employees “before, during and after a live show.” Specifically, the representative “went after” Wednesday Night Live host Tom O’Donoghue.
“We tried not to do bad things, but we can’t control everything because we are live,” said Rogers. “They were saying we can’t talk about Comcast — we have to be positive.”
Rogers cited CITV 5’s original agreement, which stated it was a separate entity from its cable provider.
The Rogers’ had a meeting with a Comcast representative, and at that time, they were told all local origination programming had to be supervised or conducted by a Comcast employee.
Since CITV 5 is its own entity, the Rogers’ are not considered employees of the cable company.
But, both Celeste and Tim Rogers were happy with this news.
“Tim was there four times every weekend, changing tapes and doing other things,” said Celeste.
Comcast wanted to know the times and dates the Rogers’ would be conducting their local programming, like the Saturday Morning Sports Show. Rogers responded with the information Comcast requested.
But, when she went in last Friday to film the sports show, she was locked out.
“The locks had already been changed — we couldn’t film the state wrestlers and the coaches,” said Rogers. “They also denied us the opportunity to get our equipment.”
Tim Rogers went to the station Monday to demand the equipment, which the two owned, and was finally given the opportunity to retrieve the items.
Since Saturday, channel 5 on Comcast has featured a couple of advertisements about local benefits and shots advertising the cable company itself. The Rogers has no idea what will come of the channel, but does know it still has an obligation to the city.
“In the city’s contract with the cable company, it says the company has to offer programming to meet the needs and interests of the area community,” said Rogers.
These needs involve education, government and local origination. It was the local origination, which CITV5 was filling with Wednesday Night Live, the Saturday Sports Show, filming high school events and other local activities.
“Somewhere along the line, they have to live up to that agreement,” said Rogers. “They can say it’s being used for government, because they film the first and third (Lincoln City Council) meetings of the month, and public access, because it airs church services,” said Rogers. “But they still have an obligation to have local origination.”
Rogers is also worried about how some Lincoln Railsplitter fans will catch up on basketball news. CITV 5 used to broadcast the audio of Railer games, but this can no longer be heard via the television. CITV 5’s Web site, however, is still up and running, and area residents can view its local origination content.
“Our regret is those people who can’t make it to a game or a prom march, they have no television programming,” said Rogers.
Rogers is meeting with Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder today to talk with him about the situation.
The Courier tried contacting representatives of Lincoln’s Comcast operation to speak with them, but the station’s listed number is out of service. A number provided by Rogers for the station was also out of service.
