Cablevision, WLBZ gain agreement

WLBZ TV (Channel 2) and Cablevision of Bangor reached a retranmission consent agreement Wednesday, some 14 hours after the original federally mandated deadline had passed.

Both Cablevision General Manager William Fay and WLBZ General Manager Jeffrey Marks voiced pleasure in the final compensation package reached about 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“We worked along the same lines as the other two deals (signed by WABI and WVII), and there was no straight cash in the deal,” Fay said. “The community and the subscribers will benefit greatly from all three deals.”

Marks also was satisfied with the completed agreement.

“There’s tremendous benefit in it for us,” he said. “It’s certainly better than I expected to do.”

Although all three networks can be still seen in Bangor, Portland was not so lucky, as the NBC and CBS affiliates went off cable Wednesday.

Marks is still negotiating with Rockland-based United Video Cablevision and West Enfield-based Vista Communications.

For Vista, Marks has agreed to extend the use of WLBZ’s signal for another day, and he characterized the negotiations as positive.

There has been no such extension granted for United, which covers 28 towns, including Hermon and Rockland.

Several Aroostook County towns covered by United Video Cablevision found that WLBZ had been restored to their cable lineup.

“Through our negotiations with United Cablevision, we had told them we wouldn’t charge them for their subscribers in Aroostook County,” said Marks. “So we let them put Channel 2 back on the air there, to show a little good faith.”

The towns regaining service are Ashland, Eagle Lake, Easton, Fort Kent, Madawaska, Mapleton, Mars Hill, Portage, Stockholm, Van Buren and Washburn.

Marks took the most aggressive stance, waging a propaganda war with various cable companies throughout the negotiation period, but he said such a tactic paid off in the end.

“We received cash and measureable compensation from a number of cable companies who were not paying compensation to any other station in the Bangor market, and in two cases to any other stations in the country,” he said. “In many cases, cable companies who were willing to pay compensation didn’t because they were not asked to.”

Marks seemed to regret that viewers got caught up in the controversy to the extent they did.

“I didn’t take any pleasure from putting the audience in the middle, and having the issue polarized to the degree it was, and I might not do it the same way again,” he said. “Still, because I did take the point, by and large, the audience came to understand a difficult issue.”