Don't hold your breath waiting for WideOpenWest cable

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 31, 2002 | by Warren Epstein

Remember back in November 2000, when we voted to extend a cable- TV contract to WideOpenWest?

We all anticipated more competition in the cable industry.

So, what happened to this little startup that was going to slay our Goliath Adelphia (or at least give us a few more options)?

It's on hold.

WideOpenWest has been building in Denver and the southern suburbs, and it recently acquired a cable company in Detroit. But so far, its only presence in the Springs is a national call center that employs about 150 people.

As per its franchise agreement, WideOpenWest faces fines if it doesn't begin hooking up cable customers here by the end of 2002. But officials there aren't sure they will make the deadline.

"I wish I could give you a date, but the capital market has really hit the skids, so we really had to put a conservative plan in place," says company vice president Dave Haverkate. "The end of the year is still possible, but it's kind of market dependent."

I suspect that part of WideOpenWest's initial excitement about our market was the prospect of offering both TV signals and broadband service. But now that the broadband market isn't turning into the pot of gold companies had hoped it would, the company's enthusiasm has waned.

I hope they get it back. We could use another cable player here to keep Adelphia in line.

No WB coming soon

Speaking of upsetting delays, remember the local WB channel that was coming to town? The license for channel 32 is still tied up in the courts and the Federal Communications Commission, as local channels and other competing interests try to keep the Warner Brothers affiliate from moving into our area.

Some of the groups that have blocked the WB's plans, such as religious and educational consortiums, have done so because they want the channel for themselves. Others, such as KRDO/Channel 13, apparently protested the license because they don't want more competition.

If they don't get channel 32, the WB says they have a Plan B. The FCC has announced it may allow a new channel on 48. In any case, it could be at least another year before we see anything on the air.

Because Adelphia already carries Denver WB affiliate KWGN/Channel 2, getting a local WB isn't a monumental thing. But it sure would be nice for the more than 40,000 homes without cable.

Want-ing new subscribers

Want TV, the incredible shrinking "wireless" cable company, will drop the Disney Channel in February.

In its place will be the History Channel, which charges lower fees to cable and satellite companies. (But subscribers will have to pay the same $22.45 per month for about two dozen channels.)

If you live in Falcon or other areas not served by cable, you probably know all about Want TV. It uses those wirey dishes to get a signal via microwave from Cheyenne Mountain.

Sprint bought American Telecasting's Want TV in 1999 to get more bandwidth for its now-faltering Internet broadband service.

Rather than kill the TV service, Sprint has been phasing it out. In the past several months it has dropped VH1, TNN, Fox Family and the TV Guide channel.

It also stopped hooking up new subscribers and paid existing subscribers $25 for disconnecting and keeping their antennas.

But in recent weeks, Sprint has started hooking up new Want TV subscribers again. Sprint officials won't tell me what's going on, but my guess is that the failure of their broadband has left them so desperate that they're trying to wring a few more dollars out of the outdated microwave TV service.