Comcast move of channel draws criticism

By: Dick Brinster
   Comcast customers in East Windsor and Hightstown are classified as being in the Philadelphia region, so when the cable TV supplier needed room to make changes in its basic package, the NBC affiliate in New York was sent up the dial.
   That led to customer complaints to the township and the borough, and the chief executives of both were critical of the decision.
   "We have a lot of people who are commuters to New York City, and they may be using Channel 4 as their source for TV viewing," Hightstown Mayor Bob Patten said Monday of the conversion that began more than three weeks ago.
   "While state and federal regulations remove any regulatory authority from municipalities, I am writing to express my deep displeasure about the recent action," East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said in a letter to Comcast.
   Actually, Channel 4 hasn’t been pulled from the system, but it can’t be accessed now without a digital converter box required for many channels. A change will add $5 a month to the bill of basic customers with only a manufacturer’s TV remote who want local sports, news and other programming aired by WNBC-TV, but others will be able to continue viewing it without an additional charge.
   "Those with an analog box can change to a digital converter without charge," Comcast spokeswoman Beth Bacha said. "They also would get the other benefits of the digital box with access to 135 to 140 channels."
   She said feeding stations from both markets into a system is not an obligation of the cable supplier and that the Federal Communications Commission decides what constitutes the local market. She said a replacement for WNBC has been not determined but that Comcast will offer a "new and varied" channel, the type not previously offered on the lower end of the band.
   The mayors were upset with the way the change was handled.
   "It would have been nice for us to be part of the conversation to determine what the impact would be," Mr. Patten said.
   "I believe Comcast’s decision to relocate NBC and the manner in which it was implemented demonstrated a great deal of insensitivity and disregard for Comcast cable viewers in our area," Ms. Mironov said. "It also raises the understandable concern that Comcast is intending to further impair local viewing by removing additional New York stations, by way of your ‘Philadelphia classification’ of East Windsor."
   Comcast is the only cable provider for both the borough and the township, although Verizon has applied to the state Board of Public Utilities to operate competing systems in both municipalities.
   Comcast has filed an application with East Windsor to renew its contract, which is expiring after 10 years.