JEFFERSON – Jefferson Telecom cable customers saw a scrolling banner about the possibility of canceling programming on some cable stations over the weekend.
Jefferson Telecom’s general manager Jim Daubendiek Monday morning, March 31, issued the following statement :
“Currently, Jefferson Telecom is in negotiations with Viacom concerning several networks, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV. While we hope to maintain carriage of these networks, in an effort to be open about our discussions we notified customers that Viacom may pull their networks at midnight on March 31, 2014.
“We have produced a new website, TVOnMySide.com, to keep our community up to date on trends in programming costs, and we welcome customer feedback at this site.
“Programming fees account for the bulk of our customers’ monthly bills in Jefferson. Our goal is to protect our customers from significant programming fee increases,” he added. Viacom demanded an increase that is 40 times the rate of inflation* over last year’s fees for the same channels you get today – even if you don’t watch them.
“We will keep the community informed of our progress in these discussions,” said Daubendiek.
Please call Jefferson Telecom at 515-386-4141 with any questions.
