A majority of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors declined to support a motion that would pave the way for a Collinsville TV station to expand into portions of Patrick County.
Many board members said they felt the issue is between two companies and a cable provider.
At a June meeting, Chad Hall, of BTW 21 in Collinsville, asked the county about expanding coverage into Patrick County, at no cost to the county.
The station currently covers Henry and Franklin counties. If it expanded into Patrick, programming would include not only events in Patrick County but also events/happenings in Henry and Franklin counties as well as the City of Martinsville and the Town of Rocky Mount, he said.
Hall said the station could run its programming on Channel 5 – a public access channel that is available to Xfinity/Comcast cable subscribers in Patrick County.
He asked the board to work with Comcast on the county’s franchise agreement. Hall said if he approached the company directly, he would be required to pay a fee for using the channel. The fee would be waived for the county, he said.
According to board documents, the county had a franchise agreement with Adelphia Cable Communications, a company partly acquired by Comcast in 2006. That agreement stipulated Adelphia was to maintain an office in Patrick, and pay an annual franchise fee equal to 3 percent of Adelphia’s gross revenues.
Public information executives with Comcast were not immediately available Friday to answer questions, including the number of actual or potential Comcast subscribers in Patrick.
However, according to Broadband Now, an online site, the company has the capacity to serve a little more than 2 percent of the county.
During the July 10 board meeting, Lock Boyce of the Mayo River District made a motion that BTW 21 would be primary programmer of Channel 5. He also noted he currently hosts a show on the cable station in Collinsville.
WHEO’s general manager Patty Dalton also addressed supervisors during the meeting. She said the new management of the radio station thought the public access channel conveyed as part of the deal when the radio station was bought.
The previous owners of the radio station operated the channel, and “we thought we had the rights to that” channel, she said. “We thought it was part of the kit and caboodle” when the radio station was purchased.
Comcast also currently rents a portion of the radio station for equipment, she said.
Dalton asked the supervisors to delay their vote on the proposed expansion while the search for records is underway.
Boyce, who previously hosted a weekly show on the local radio station, alleged if the radio station retained the rights to operate the TV channel, the contract that requires a certain amount of public service broadcasting was breached, partly because the TV channel has not been operational for a number of years.
Dalton said the company is working on a prioritized list of goals that includes operating the TV channel, and reiterated her request that supervisors delay the vote.
Boyce amended the motion to allow for WHEO or BTW to be primary programmer of Channel 5.
Roger Hayden of the Dan River District seconded the motion that was defeated following a lengthy discussion.
Peters Creek District Supervisor Rickie Fulcher said he needed a clearer understanding of the agreement before supporting the motion.
Citing similar concerns, Crystal Harris, of the Smith River District and board chairman; Karl Weiss, of the Blue Ridge District and Hayden also voted against the motion.
Some of the supervisors also suggested the issue did not involve the board, but rather WHEO, BTW and Comcast.
Boyce said the motion came down to a matter of protecting free speech, and noted he would always support free speech.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with the right of free speech,” Hayden said.
