Pittsburgh-Area Stations Removed from Cable Providers

Some Pittsburgh-area cable subscribers expecting to view local news on New Year’s Day won’t see it on WPXI-TV or Pittsburgh Cable News Channel — depending on who their provider is.
In a statement released early Wednesday morning, Cox Media Group, which owns WPXI, said that “after weeks of negotiations, Verizon has unexpectedly decided to remove WPXI-Pittsburgh from its services.”
Cox added that it participated in “multiple points of negotiation” with Verizon to prevent disruptions, to no avail.
The media conglomerate said that it will continue negotiating “in good faith” with Verizon.
Cox is urging WPXI customers to contact Verizon directly at 1-800-837-4966.
The announcement comes directly off the heels of WPXI’s late Tuesday announcement that Comcast has decided to drop Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC) from its lineup, starting Wednesday.
The station said that Comcast informed Cox on Monday “without any prior warning” that it would halt distribution of PCNC to Comcast customers as of midnight Tuesday.
“We at WPXI and PCNC are very disappointed with the disruption and inconvenience to Comcast viewers that will result from Comcast’s actions, but we were informed of Comcast’s decision less than 48 hours ago,” Kevin Hayes, vice president and general manager for WPXI and PCNC, said in a statement. “Our priority is serving our viewers and our agreements with other distributors will remain in place. We will continue to produce content for PCNC and service to those viewers will not be interrupted.”
WPXI said that it has offered Comcast an extension, including a temporary one that would avoid interruptions while terms were worked out, but “Comcast has refused all such offers while failing to respond with a counterproposal.”
Comcast has refused to reconsider its position, according to WPXI.
The station warned that Comcast’s “arbitrary” decision could “have an impact on public safety,” noting that PCNC customers are now denied of local and regional weather reports.
Officials at Comcast were not immediately available for comment.


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