TV & VIDEO - Oct. 24, 1989

Independent broadcasters are going after a Rochester, N.Y., cable television system that is operating a broadcast-style TV station on one of its 39 channels. The Assn. of Independent Television Stations, in a 47-page petition to the Federal Communications Commission, said Monday that the establishment of WGRC-TV (Channel 5) on the Greater Rochester Cablevision system was a threat to fair competition. WGRC has hired former TV executives and a sales staff and is running former network programs such as “Quincy,” “Knight Rider” and “The A-Team,” just as an independent station would. The association said that while there is nothing inherently bad with cable operators programming on one channel, it becomes a problem when a cable system is the sole provider of service to a community and can control both the delivery and the content of its programs. “WGRC is sort of a next generation,” an association executive said. “This is a situation we’re trying to jump on before it becomes widespread.”