new week and a new question in the Free Press to the "Ask Us Guy" about the new NBC coming
Q: I am concerned that if KEYC-TV adds NBC to their channel lineup, what is going to happen to the KARE 11 News broadcast? We do not want to lose this channel.
A: This question is a reference to KEYC’s new channel offerings, NBC and CW, which will be coming soon — along with the station’s existing CBS and FOX channels — to people who get their TV signals over the air. Cable and satellite companies providing TV service in the Mankato market will be required to offer KEYC’s NBC channel, just as they’re required to provide the local versions of CBS and FOX, according to Ed Woloszyn, general manager of KEYC. “We will be the NBC station of license in the market,” Woloszyn said. “... We need to be on their lineups.” That doesn’t mean, though, that the cable company can’t also provide each network’s Twin Cities station as well.
Ask Us Guy, for instance, has the most basic cable offering from Charter or Spectrum or whatever it’s called now and gets two CBS and two FOX channels — the KEYC versions as well as WCCO and KMSP. So it’s entirely up to the cable or satellite TV providers whether they will drop KARE when the local NBC channel begins operation.
“Express to your provider what you want,” Woloszyn advised. He also provided an update on the anticipated arrival of the new channels. “Right now Dec. 1 is a target date everybody is working towards — sooner if possible,” he said. KEYC is already emitting a signal (but not programming) for the two new channels, so cableless people can check now to see if their antenna is picking up the signal or if they’ll need a better antenna.