Cable Outlet Shifts to JFK TV Tape

Dimension Cable of south Orange County, responding to more than 50 calls from angry subscribers, shifted its normal schedule Tuesday to carry most of a highly praised special rebroadcasting the original NBC News coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Because of its limited number of channels, during the day Dimension carries Nickelodeon, which provides programming for children, on Channel 28. At night, the Arts & Entertainment service is normally carried on the channel.

The JFK special, produced for A&E;, was scheduled to begin at 10:56 a.m. and continue until 3:30 p.m., followed by a 90-minute wrap-up. As calls from viewers looking for the show started coming in to Dimension shortly after 11 a.m., the cable company first tried to arrange to carry the A&E; special on its Prime Ticket sports channel, which is dark during the day.

When that proved too complicated, Dimension’s general manager, Rich Anderson, decided to bump Nickelodeon for the remainder of the day and began broadcasting the A&E; special at 12:15 p.m. Viewers were told about the change when they called to complain. Then a printed “crawl” announcing the schedule change was carried on the public-access channel.

This spring, Dimension plans to expand from its present 36-channel service to 54 channels, making more channels available on a full-time basis, including Nickelodeon and A&E;, Anderson said.