Local Lubbock T.V. Fight With Direct T.V. May Be Over For Now

It looks like KAMC and KLBK will be back on Direct T.V.

Nexstar Television and Direct T.V. said in a joint statement that the channels are coming back while some things are being worked out. I am very happy for those people who rely on our local stations for news, weather, sports, and even syndicated programming. Do keep in mind that the actual announcement says they are "temporarily returning" the programming back. All of this could go belly up at any given moment.

These kinds of fights over carrier fees have become all too common and it's the viewers that lose every single time. I think we've all experienced a loss of one of our favorite channels at one time or another, and sorry, it's much more frequent with Direct T.V. and Dish. Don't get me wrong, I respect their right to try to keep costs down, but you're not much of a "provider" if you aren't "providing" what the customer wants.

All of this really brings to the forefront something we've all been screaming for since day one, and that's ala cart programming. I really believe you should only be charged for the channels you're interested in. For instance, most of us have been paying, at least a little, as part of our package for CSPAN since 1979. I have never intentionally turned on CSPAN. Meanwhile, if a storm hits I trust Ron Roberts and I need to be able to tune him in if there's a storm.

I hope all of these people can work out a permanent arrangement, but if not, keep in mind that there a services out there that have these problems a lot less frequently.