Sunday, December 28, 2008
What Does Electricity Really Cost?
8:15 PM | 
Posted by
Billy Ray |
The cost of electricity in Glasgow is going down some on January 1. This comes as a result of a reduction in the FCA (Fuel Cost Adjustment) which TVA recalculates four times per year. The electricity which powers your home will cost you about 6% less on January 1, to about nine cents per kWH, but let’s talk for just a bit about the real costs associated with the electric power we use in Glasgow. It really costs a lot more than the nine cents per kWH you pay will us for it. Here is what I mean.
We have talked before about the fact that the power we use in Glasgow is mainly generated by the burning of coal at the many coal-fired generation plants operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. In fact, TVA burns over 400 tons of coal per day just to keep our lights on here in Glasgow, and the burning of that coal has costs that are not recognized in that nine cent cost. For one thing, the burning of that coal dumps unbelievable volumes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere from the smokestacks at the coal plants. For example, one of the measurements we are making available to our customers who have one of our new internet-based electric meters is the amount of CO2 that is dumped into the atmosphere each month just to power their home. This month my home’s electric power consumption caused 4,500 pounds of CO2 to be dumped into our atmosphere. There are about 5,500 similar homes in Glasgow alone, and the CO2 going into the atmosphere is only one of the added costs of the power we use. Our waterways suffer as well.
You have likely heard about the massive spill of coal ash slurry from the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant near Knoxville, Tennessee. This link takes you to one of the many newspaper accounts of this event. This link takes you to a first hand account of the disaster from someone who went there. The facts are that on December 22 a dike holding in an impoundment of over one billion gallons of coal ash slurry gave away and emptied its contents into neighborhoods surrounding the Kingston Fossil Plant and, in turn, into the rivers which feed into the Tennessee River. No one yet knows what the long term impacts of this spill might be. We do know that the ash is what is left over after the pulverized coal is burned to make steam to turn the generators that keep our lights on. It is also made up of the objectionable particulate matter that is scrubbed from the smoke which results from this combustion before it exits the smokestack. It is laden with heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic. Here you can read an inventory of just what horrible substances are in that ash. That is why we are scrubbing it from the smoke. So, it only follows that if we do not want it in our air, we also do not want it in our water. Yet, there is where it is headed, one billion gallons of it. This cost is not a part of the nine cents you pay for a kWH, but it is still a massive expense, don’t you think? You can bet that the cost of the cleanup will be added to our power bills very soon.
The story of this coal ash spill is far from over, but one thing is certain, the environmental cost of our energy consumption dwarfs the monetary cost. Every single element of the mining, transportation and burning of coal damages the water and air so essential to human life on our planet. There is no such thing as clean coal! We all need to ponder this at every revolution of the electric meter on the side of our house. We all use too much electric power. We use it at the wrong times of the day, and all of the power we use results in long term damage to spaceship earth.
Suddenly nine cents per kWH seems way too cheap. My guess is that, by the time all of the results of this massive spill are known and tallied, coal will no longer be the cheapest way to produce electricity. The folks downstream of Kingston Fossil Plant will be the first to vote for that.
We have talked before about the fact that the power we use in Glasgow is mainly generated by the burning of coal at the many coal-fired generation plants operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. In fact, TVA burns over 400 tons of coal per day just to keep our lights on here in Glasgow, and the burning of that coal has costs that are not recognized in that nine cent cost. For one thing, the burning of that coal dumps unbelievable volumes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere from the smokestacks at the coal plants. For example, one of the measurements we are making available to our customers who have one of our new internet-based electric meters is the amount of CO2 that is dumped into the atmosphere each month just to power their home. This month my home’s electric power consumption caused 4,500 pounds of CO2 to be dumped into our atmosphere. There are about 5,500 similar homes in Glasgow alone, and the CO2 going into the atmosphere is only one of the added costs of the power we use. Our waterways suffer as well.
You have likely heard about the massive spill of coal ash slurry from the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant near Knoxville, Tennessee. This link takes you to one of the many newspaper accounts of this event. This link takes you to a first hand account of the disaster from someone who went there. The facts are that on December 22 a dike holding in an impoundment of over one billion gallons of coal ash slurry gave away and emptied its contents into neighborhoods surrounding the Kingston Fossil Plant and, in turn, into the rivers which feed into the Tennessee River. No one yet knows what the long term impacts of this spill might be. We do know that the ash is what is left over after the pulverized coal is burned to make steam to turn the generators that keep our lights on. It is also made up of the objectionable particulate matter that is scrubbed from the smoke which results from this combustion before it exits the smokestack. It is laden with heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic. Here you can read an inventory of just what horrible substances are in that ash. That is why we are scrubbing it from the smoke. So, it only follows that if we do not want it in our air, we also do not want it in our water. Yet, there is where it is headed, one billion gallons of it. This cost is not a part of the nine cents you pay for a kWH, but it is still a massive expense, don’t you think? You can bet that the cost of the cleanup will be added to our power bills very soon.
The story of this coal ash spill is far from over, but one thing is certain, the environmental cost of our energy consumption dwarfs the monetary cost. Every single element of the mining, transportation and burning of coal damages the water and air so essential to human life on our planet. There is no such thing as clean coal! We all need to ponder this at every revolution of the electric meter on the side of our house. We all use too much electric power. We use it at the wrong times of the day, and all of the power we use results in long term damage to spaceship earth.
Suddenly nine cents per kWH seems way too cheap. My guess is that, by the time all of the results of this massive spill are known and tallied, coal will no longer be the cheapest way to produce electricity. The folks downstream of Kingston Fossil Plant will be the first to vote for that.
Labels:
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Mother Nature Rearranges Some Channels
Even though we have been talking about the big television channel revisions for some time now, you may be surprised when you turn on your television this morning. The storm which blew through Glasgow on Saturday night included a rogue lightning bolt that struck our antenna tower and damaged a lot of equipment -- mostly equipment associated with Nashville based television stations. The damage is causing us to scramble and cobble together repair solutions. One of those solutions will be to go ahead and implement some of the channel additions/deletions that were scheduled for January 1. Since a few Nashville broadcast stations were already going to be dropped due to their overly aggressive demands for payment, it seems silly to repair that equipment for just a few more days of use. So, let me tell you about the changes we are planning to implement immediately.
We hope to have WTVF (our channel 10) and WKRN (our channel 25) back up using alternate antennae sometime on Sunday. The HD CBS feed from WTVF will be a much bigger problem but we are going to attempt to salvage our CBS HD feed from WLKY to replace it temporarily. We are not sure if this will work nor are we sure how long this will take.
The feeds for WNPX (our channels 175-178) are just going to be down for a while. Ditto for our Nashville public broadcasting channels -- WNPT (our channels 198, 199, and 510). These will be down until the weather moderates enough for someone to climb our 450 foot tower and do the work at the top.
WUXP (our channel 15) and WZTV (our channel 17) were already slated to leave our system on January 1. Since Mother Nature has dealt us this blow, we are going to take her suggestion and leave them off and start making the connections to debut their replacements as soon as possible. WMYO will appear on channel 15 as soon as possible. WBKI will take the vacant spot on channel 17 as previously explained in posts on this blog.
We are sorry that this damage and these early changes might cause some viewing interruptions during this time of year when the weather and family gatherings dramatically increase television viewing. We will work diligently to affect these repairs and changes as soon as humanly possible.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Changing Channels
Last week we issued a press release which described the EPB’s decision on the broadcast stations matter we have been discussing for a couple of months. In case you missed that information, this post should help make the changes, and the events which lead to these alterations to our basic cable lineup clear. The bottom line is that we were not able to convince some of the broadcasters to accept reasonable rates and those stations will disappear from our lineup on January 1. Some of those openings will be filled with new broadcast stations. Disappointingly, the prices we were able to negotiate are still such that an increase to our basic cable rates of $1.75 per month will become effective January 1, 2009. We hate doing this, but, as a non-profit corporation, we do not have the funds to absorb these increases without passing them along to our customers.
Beyond the changes to our basic cable lineup, there are also a number of changes about to happen at all levels of our various programming tiers. Although we are happy to be bringing back some old favorites like WSMV and WHAS, we are not proud of the confusion that many of you will feel when you go looking for programs you are accustomed to viewing after January 1. However, we have developed a chart that should be useful in helping you track the changes. You can view that chart by clicking on this link. As you can see, there are going to be a lot of new stations and programs in a lot of new positions. Over all, we hope you will find these changes welcome and an enhancement of our product.
We don’t want to belabor the point, but the broadcast station that is responsible for the lion’s share of the rate increase is WBKO in Bowling Green. We do not intend to forget about this cruel injustice and we don’t want you to forget either. Far too often, Glasgow’s economy leaks precious dollars to businesses in Bowling Green. The demand of WBKO and their parent company, Gray Television, Inc., for $50,000 per year from the people of Glasgow, in return for our continued right to view their programming, is overtly greedy, no matter how you slice it. In return for the new $50,000 per year charge we get nothing new from WBKO. They are not opening a local office in Glasgow and employing any local folks. They are not dedicating any new minutes of their newscasts to Glasgow issues. They are not converting their newscasts to High Definition to complement our HD tier. Rather, the real story behind this charge is likely the need of their parent company for new revenue in return for no new expense. Gray Television, Inc., (a link to their website is here) has something less than an outstanding record of financial performance. Looking at their corporate information one discovers that their common stock was selling for about $9 a year ago and, as this is written, a share of their stock is now selling for under 50 cents! In fact, the New York Stock Exchange recently notified them that their stock will be removed from the NYSE if its value continues to be so low. So, it seems a safe bet that their plan for replacing revenue that they are unable to generate by simply running an efficient business in a free market system is to gouge the cable operators and, ultimately, the viewers that are essential to their plan to sell advertising. They do not appear to be financial geniuses. In summary, in a fashion similar to the recent decisions by our government to bail out businesses who became ineffective through corruption and greed, the people of Glasgow, and other cities where they do business, are also bailing out the folks at Gray Television, Inc.
While I am ranting, you should know that the greed epidemic does not begin and end in the halls of the broadcast stations. We are also fighting a similar infection with the folks at NBC Universal. NBCU owns several services that we provide to our customers in Glasgow. They are CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Sci-Fi, Bravo, UHD and the extended Olympics Games coverage. Right now they are asking for increases in the fees charged for these services that run from 8% to 26% with the guarantee of additional increases each year of about 12%. These increases are both aggressive and unrealistic and we, along with a large number of small cable operators like us, are refusing to agree to these increases. Although it would really surprise me if they cut off our signals from these services on January 1 as our discussions continue, it is certainly within the range of possibilities. It seems that greed knows no boundaries of conventional wisdom.
Finally, it is that time of year again when our refusal to cave in to the outlandish demands of the folks at Fox Sports Net South results in our customers not being able to watch a few University of Kentucky Men’s basketball games. As most UK fans already know, FSNS has exclusive broadcast rights to five UK vs. “Cupcake U” games each year and this year is no exception. Those games are as follows and they will not be available on our cable system:
Dec. 3rd, UK vs Lamar
Dec. 7th, UK vs Mississipp Valley St.
Dec. 20th, UK vs Appalachian St.
Dec. 27th, UK vs Florida Atlantic
Dec. 29th, UK vs Central Michigan
The only hope for watching these games may be to go to www.espn360.com and watch them on your computer!
Beyond the changes to our basic cable lineup, there are also a number of changes about to happen at all levels of our various programming tiers. Although we are happy to be bringing back some old favorites like WSMV and WHAS, we are not proud of the confusion that many of you will feel when you go looking for programs you are accustomed to viewing after January 1. However, we have developed a chart that should be useful in helping you track the changes. You can view that chart by clicking on this link. As you can see, there are going to be a lot of new stations and programs in a lot of new positions. Over all, we hope you will find these changes welcome and an enhancement of our product.
We don’t want to belabor the point, but the broadcast station that is responsible for the lion’s share of the rate increase is WBKO in Bowling Green. We do not intend to forget about this cruel injustice and we don’t want you to forget either. Far too often, Glasgow’s economy leaks precious dollars to businesses in Bowling Green. The demand of WBKO and their parent company, Gray Television, Inc., for $50,000 per year from the people of Glasgow, in return for our continued right to view their programming, is overtly greedy, no matter how you slice it. In return for the new $50,000 per year charge we get nothing new from WBKO. They are not opening a local office in Glasgow and employing any local folks. They are not dedicating any new minutes of their newscasts to Glasgow issues. They are not converting their newscasts to High Definition to complement our HD tier. Rather, the real story behind this charge is likely the need of their parent company for new revenue in return for no new expense. Gray Television, Inc., (a link to their website is here) has something less than an outstanding record of financial performance. Looking at their corporate information one discovers that their common stock was selling for about $9 a year ago and, as this is written, a share of their stock is now selling for under 50 cents! In fact, the New York Stock Exchange recently notified them that their stock will be removed from the NYSE if its value continues to be so low. So, it seems a safe bet that their plan for replacing revenue that they are unable to generate by simply running an efficient business in a free market system is to gouge the cable operators and, ultimately, the viewers that are essential to their plan to sell advertising. They do not appear to be financial geniuses. In summary, in a fashion similar to the recent decisions by our government to bail out businesses who became ineffective through corruption and greed, the people of Glasgow, and other cities where they do business, are also bailing out the folks at Gray Television, Inc.
While I am ranting, you should know that the greed epidemic does not begin and end in the halls of the broadcast stations. We are also fighting a similar infection with the folks at NBC Universal. NBCU owns several services that we provide to our customers in Glasgow. They are CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Sci-Fi, Bravo, UHD and the extended Olympics Games coverage. Right now they are asking for increases in the fees charged for these services that run from 8% to 26% with the guarantee of additional increases each year of about 12%. These increases are both aggressive and unrealistic and we, along with a large number of small cable operators like us, are refusing to agree to these increases. Although it would really surprise me if they cut off our signals from these services on January 1 as our discussions continue, it is certainly within the range of possibilities. It seems that greed knows no boundaries of conventional wisdom.
Finally, it is that time of year again when our refusal to cave in to the outlandish demands of the folks at Fox Sports Net South results in our customers not being able to watch a few University of Kentucky Men’s basketball games. As most UK fans already know, FSNS has exclusive broadcast rights to five UK vs. “Cupcake U” games each year and this year is no exception. Those games are as follows and they will not be available on our cable system:
Dec. 3rd, UK vs Lamar
Dec. 7th, UK vs Mississipp Valley St.
Dec. 20th, UK vs Appalachian St.
Dec. 27th, UK vs Florida Atlantic
Dec. 29th, UK vs Central Michigan
The only hope for watching these games may be to go to www.espn360.com and watch them on your computer!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Broadcast Stations vs. Glasgow's Economy
When the EPB meets this week they will be considering the latest offers from the television broadcasters relative to what they are going to charge the people of Glasgow for the privilege of viewing their programming via the EPB cable system. You will recall that this is the broadcaster's little "agreement among friends" to extract massive payments for programming that everyone is accustomed to receiving for free. Curiously, they all decided to make these demands this year.
The EPB Board will be considering some painful choices. We know our customers are already rocked by financial hardship. The economy is in trouble. The cost of electric power is spiraling. In short, everyone should realize that this is not the time to demand more money from folks who are already hurting. But, that is exactly what the broadcast television stations are doing.
A couple of things are certain. Some of the broadcast stations you have been getting for years will disappear on January 1, 2009. However, all is not lost as we may be able to add a couple of stations back to our lineup that have been gone for a long time. Finally, it is also certain that the very best deal we can negotiate will still result in an increase in the rate for our basic tier of programming. Right now it looks like the increase will be in the neighborhood of $1.75 per month for the basic broadcast tier, but that final decision will be up the EPB Board when it meets.
I think everyone should know that our friends at WBKO in Bowling Green are being the most hard- nosed about demanding money (if we agree to what they are demanding they will be taking $50,000 per year out of Glasgow's economy) and refusing to negotiate more reasonable terms. Each of the other broadcasters started off asking a certain amount and then were willing to negotiate with us for lower amounts. This has not been the case with WBKO and as time winds down, it does not seem like they are going to change.
This is another example of the problems faced by Glasgow's local economy. There are simply too many businesses (like WBKO) that are determined to export money from Glasgow's economy while providing precious little for us in return. These are the problems that Glasgow's new movement, Sustainable Glasgow is being created to address. We simply have to learn how to provide more goods and services for ourselves such that we can keep our money in local circulation and enjoy the "multiplier" effects of sustaining local businesses. In the future, every time I look at WBKO's programming I will be thinking about the $50,000 per year they are taking from us and how that money might have helped a local business person grow his business in Glasgow. I hope you will too.
Of course, WBKO feels that the information and entertainment products they produce are well worth that money. But an event this weekend at The Plaza Theater reconfirmed my belief that we can inform, and certainly can entertain ourselves as well. If you were one of the roughly one thousand folks who attended the bluegrass music event at The Plaza Theater this weekend, you know what I am talking about. Local government officials made a fantastic decision to purchase and renovate this facility. Local employees and volunteers at The Plaza Theater assembled the talent and produced the show. They also sold tickets, ushered folks, sold concessions, and ran the lights and sound systems. To a large extent, the talent was local as well, and that closes the circle on my theory. We have a place, we have the management folks and talented volunteers, and we have local talented musicians. We also have wonderfully talented local thespians - The Far Off Broadway Players who are working hard to entertain us locally as well.
So, my point is this. Distant companies who are enriching themselves by siphoning off Glasgow's wealth better pay attention to the changing tide. Sustainable Glasgow intends to work diligently to identify places where our treasure is leaking out of the community to vendors who might be relying too heavily on our slumber. Together, we can awaken Glasgow's determination to protect itself and provide for our own needs.
The EPB Board will be considering some painful choices. We know our customers are already rocked by financial hardship. The economy is in trouble. The cost of electric power is spiraling. In short, everyone should realize that this is not the time to demand more money from folks who are already hurting. But, that is exactly what the broadcast television stations are doing.
A couple of things are certain. Some of the broadcast stations you have been getting for years will disappear on January 1, 2009. However, all is not lost as we may be able to add a couple of stations back to our lineup that have been gone for a long time. Finally, it is also certain that the very best deal we can negotiate will still result in an increase in the rate for our basic tier of programming. Right now it looks like the increase will be in the neighborhood of $1.75 per month for the basic broadcast tier, but that final decision will be up the EPB Board when it meets.
I think everyone should know that our friends at WBKO in Bowling Green are being the most hard- nosed about demanding money (if we agree to what they are demanding they will be taking $50,000 per year out of Glasgow's economy) and refusing to negotiate more reasonable terms. Each of the other broadcasters started off asking a certain amount and then were willing to negotiate with us for lower amounts. This has not been the case with WBKO and as time winds down, it does not seem like they are going to change.
This is another example of the problems faced by Glasgow's local economy. There are simply too many businesses (like WBKO) that are determined to export money from Glasgow's economy while providing precious little for us in return. These are the problems that Glasgow's new movement, Sustainable Glasgow is being created to address. We simply have to learn how to provide more goods and services for ourselves such that we can keep our money in local circulation and enjoy the "multiplier" effects of sustaining local businesses. In the future, every time I look at WBKO's programming I will be thinking about the $50,000 per year they are taking from us and how that money might have helped a local business person grow his business in Glasgow. I hope you will too.
Of course, WBKO feels that the information and entertainment products they produce are well worth that money. But an event this weekend at The Plaza Theater reconfirmed my belief that we can inform, and certainly can entertain ourselves as well. If you were one of the roughly one thousand folks who attended the bluegrass music event at The Plaza Theater this weekend, you know what I am talking about. Local government officials made a fantastic decision to purchase and renovate this facility. Local employees and volunteers at The Plaza Theater assembled the talent and produced the show. They also sold tickets, ushered folks, sold concessions, and ran the lights and sound systems. To a large extent, the talent was local as well, and that closes the circle on my theory. We have a place, we have the management folks and talented volunteers, and we have local talented musicians. We also have wonderfully talented local thespians - The Far Off Broadway Players who are working hard to entertain us locally as well.
So, my point is this. Distant companies who are enriching themselves by siphoning off Glasgow's wealth better pay attention to the changing tide. Sustainable Glasgow intends to work diligently to identify places where our treasure is leaking out of the community to vendors who might be relying too heavily on our slumber. Together, we can awaken Glasgow's determination to protect itself and provide for our own needs.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Your Digital Set Top Box is Acting Funny
Many of you noticed some strange behavior by your digital set top box this week. Monday night, in preparation for our upcoming roll-out of Video-On-Demand (VOD), there was a universal software upgrade to all 3,000 of the boxes in Glasgow. Some of the boxes did not respond well. By that I mean that some refused to display the guide, some refused to respond to the remote control, some refused to carry out the trash and say "please" and "thank you."
We have found that most of the boxes can be whipped back into shape by simply unplugging the power cord for a few seconds and then plugging it back in (don't you wish this was effective on errant children?). After the power down, they usually are back in service with the new software within an hour or so. However, I have noticed a couple of changes that are simply Motorola's idea of improvements. Those changes will not go away, even after unplugging the box and rebooting it.
The change I noticed last night was with my "guide" button. In the past I could push it once to get the guide and then I could press it again to summon the little menu at the bottom of the screen. I liked that feature because it meant no matter which button I pushed, I could get the screen I wanted just by pushing it some more (this is akin to the male theory that everything can be fixed by pushing harder or getting a bigger hammer). Alas, now when one pushes the "guide" button a second time you just get a listing of the upcoming programs on the channel you happen to be tuned to at the time. We have tried, but so far found no way to get the old "push guide twice if you really want the menu" feature to return. So, it looks like something we need to get used to.
We will keep you posted as we find other changes. You can keep us all posted as well by commenting on this post by clicking the "comments" link below and posting what you have discovered. I'm sure we all would like to hear what changes you might find. Oh, and I have now seen VOD demonstrated and it is waaaay cool. You are going to love it and it should arrive on your set well before Christmas!
We have found that most of the boxes can be whipped back into shape by simply unplugging the power cord for a few seconds and then plugging it back in (don't you wish this was effective on errant children?). After the power down, they usually are back in service with the new software within an hour or so. However, I have noticed a couple of changes that are simply Motorola's idea of improvements. Those changes will not go away, even after unplugging the box and rebooting it.
The change I noticed last night was with my "guide" button. In the past I could push it once to get the guide and then I could press it again to summon the little menu at the bottom of the screen. I liked that feature because it meant no matter which button I pushed, I could get the screen I wanted just by pushing it some more (this is akin to the male theory that everything can be fixed by pushing harder or getting a bigger hammer). Alas, now when one pushes the "guide" button a second time you just get a listing of the upcoming programs on the channel you happen to be tuned to at the time. We have tried, but so far found no way to get the old "push guide twice if you really want the menu" feature to return. So, it looks like something we need to get used to.
We will keep you posted as we find other changes. You can keep us all posted as well by commenting on this post by clicking the "comments" link below and posting what you have discovered. I'm sure we all would like to hear what changes you might find. Oh, and I have now seen VOD demonstrated and it is waaaay cool. You are going to love it and it should arrive on your set well before Christmas!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Want to Know the Latest? Learn to Twitter!
There are always a lot of new things going on at the EPB, but this latest thing is a way for you to better keep up with all of the other things. We have discovered Twitter, and we think it might be a real breakthrough in our ability to keep our customers posted on what is going on -- right now!
To participate in getting the very latest real-time information, just click on this link or look on the left side of this blog at the new area entitled "Twitter Updates" and click on the link at the bottom of the updates that says "Follow the EPB on Twitter." Once there, follow the instructions to sign up for an account and then click on the "Follow" button. Then each time you come back to Twitter.com and sign in, you will see the updates from us! Also, if you have a cell phone (who doesn't?) and if it can receive text messages, enter that information when you are signing up for your Twitter account and you will get the EPB updates instantly when we post them. Even if you were sitting in the dark after a power outage, you would get the updates from us via your cell phone. We think that feature has tremendous possibilities.
This very morning is a great example of the possibilities. This morning we arrived to find many folks calling in to report problems with their digital set top boxes that came as a result of a software upgrade early this morning. The fix for this problem is simple and we realized that if most of our customers were already receiving our Twitter updates, we could broadcast simple instructions via Twitter that would save everyone the trouble of calling in and having us give the instructions one at a time. Obviously we could do the same thing with widespread power outages. Once we realize that a group of several hundred homes are off we could Twitter the information out to all, and, even if you were sitting in the dark without the ability to check Twitter or this blog for information, you could get the information via text message to your cell phone!
Of course, it will take a while for us to get thousands of customers signed up for Twitter and receiving these updates, but, let's start this morning and see how fast we can go! Oh, and by the way, if your digital box is one of the ones that is mysteriously blank this morning, just unplug the power cord, wait about ten seconds, plug it back in and wait about twenty minutes and the new software should download and bring you converter back to life. If that does not work, give us a call!
To participate in getting the very latest real-time information, just click on this link or look on the left side of this blog at the new area entitled "Twitter Updates" and click on the link at the bottom of the updates that says "Follow the EPB on Twitter." Once there, follow the instructions to sign up for an account and then click on the "Follow" button. Then each time you come back to Twitter.com and sign in, you will see the updates from us! Also, if you have a cell phone (who doesn't?) and if it can receive text messages, enter that information when you are signing up for your Twitter account and you will get the EPB updates instantly when we post them. Even if you were sitting in the dark after a power outage, you would get the updates from us via your cell phone. We think that feature has tremendous possibilities.
This very morning is a great example of the possibilities. This morning we arrived to find many folks calling in to report problems with their digital set top boxes that came as a result of a software upgrade early this morning. The fix for this problem is simple and we realized that if most of our customers were already receiving our Twitter updates, we could broadcast simple instructions via Twitter that would save everyone the trouble of calling in and having us give the instructions one at a time. Obviously we could do the same thing with widespread power outages. Once we realize that a group of several hundred homes are off we could Twitter the information out to all, and, even if you were sitting in the dark without the ability to check Twitter or this blog for information, you could get the information via text message to your cell phone!
Of course, it will take a while for us to get thousands of customers signed up for Twitter and receiving these updates, but, let's start this morning and see how fast we can go! Oh, and by the way, if your digital box is one of the ones that is mysteriously blank this morning, just unplug the power cord, wait about ten seconds, plug it back in and wait about twenty minutes and the new software should download and bring you converter back to life. If that does not work, give us a call!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Broadcast Stations Update
As we described in our last post several days ago, we are in a full-blown arm wrestling battle with the television stations in Bowling Green, Nashville, and Louisville over the fees they want to charge us for the right to provide their signals to you via our cable system. It would be wonderful to report that they have all seen the error of their ways and have decided to allow us to continue receiving and distributing their signals without charge, but such is not the world we live in today. They want money and they want a lot of it -- starting January 1, 2009.
So far only a couple of things are already clear. We are definitely not going to be able to make a deal with the folks at WZTV (our channel 17 which is a FOX affiliate out of Nashville) or WUXP (our channel 15, a UPN affiliate also out of Nashville) so you can already anticipate those channels being gone from our lineup on January 1. However, we are looking for replacements for them.
We are cautiously optimistic that we are going to reach a reasonable deal with WNKY (our channels 7 and 8) out of Bowling Green. We are also fairly optimistic about reaching a deal with WDRB (our channel 16), a FOX affiliate out of Louisville, and we will clearly have deals with KET, WKYU, and WPBM (our channels 11, 18, 23, and 24. Curiously, our neighbors in Bowling Green at WBKO (our channels 12, 13, 14, and 513) are being particularly aggressive in their demands for compensation and we do not have an agreement with them. At the same time, WTVF (our channel 10 and 515), and WAVE (our channel 99) are also not done deals as we have yet to get any sort of final offer from them. We are holding offers from WSMV (NBC affiliate from Nashville that we have not carried for several years) and WHAS (ABC affiliate from Louisville that we also have not carried for several years) and may move forward with these stations if we do not reach reasonable terms with these other stations very soon.
Even at my most optimistic view of how all of this will play out, the result will still likely result in an increased cost of over $1.50 per cable subscriber. As always, stay tuned to this site for the latest information on how this is going to play out for cable customers in Glasgow. Your views and comments and suggestions are always appreciated!
So far only a couple of things are already clear. We are definitely not going to be able to make a deal with the folks at WZTV (our channel 17 which is a FOX affiliate out of Nashville) or WUXP (our channel 15, a UPN affiliate also out of Nashville) so you can already anticipate those channels being gone from our lineup on January 1. However, we are looking for replacements for them.
We are cautiously optimistic that we are going to reach a reasonable deal with WNKY (our channels 7 and 8) out of Bowling Green. We are also fairly optimistic about reaching a deal with WDRB (our channel 16), a FOX affiliate out of Louisville, and we will clearly have deals with KET, WKYU, and WPBM (our channels 11, 18, 23, and 24. Curiously, our neighbors in Bowling Green at WBKO (our channels 12, 13, 14, and 513) are being particularly aggressive in their demands for compensation and we do not have an agreement with them. At the same time, WTVF (our channel 10 and 515), and WAVE (our channel 99) are also not done deals as we have yet to get any sort of final offer from them. We are holding offers from WSMV (NBC affiliate from Nashville that we have not carried for several years) and WHAS (ABC affiliate from Louisville that we also have not carried for several years) and may move forward with these stations if we do not reach reasonable terms with these other stations very soon.
Even at my most optimistic view of how all of this will play out, the result will still likely result in an increased cost of over $1.50 per cable subscriber. As always, stay tuned to this site for the latest information on how this is going to play out for cable customers in Glasgow. Your views and comments and suggestions are always appreciated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)