Hopes Dashed For WRGB


NORTH EAST — Those who have been waiting with bated breath for the return of news channel WRGB Channel 6 out of Albany can forget about it, according to Cablevision’s Roger Connor. Connor appeared at a Town Board meeting last Thursday to discuss the municipality’s relationship with the cable provider.

"It’s not going to happen," he said. "Since 2003 I’ve been lobbying for that channel and for several reasons it’s a dead issue for Cablevision."

Those reasons include that the head end antenna on the top of the Dover hub was dismantled and there’s nobody there to man the substation. The antenna in Wappingers Falls is too far away to pick up that signal, nor is it mandated to do so.

"It became a technical decision on the commpany’s part. They didn’t want to continue picking up signals for hubs that weren’t going to be manned," Connor explained.

Since the Albany station is not going to return, Connor was asked if Cablevision’s local news program would ever focus on northeastern Dutchess County.

"Cablevision News doesn’t cover this part of Dutchess," said local resident Dave Shufelt. "Who do we appeal to in your company in getting coverage?"

"[You don’t get covered,] not with Cablevision News, but we try to get representatives of the county in our Meet the Leaders segment," Connor said. "The 14 municipalities that are the focus of the news program pay more for it. Just to concentrate in those 14 communities is all our staff can handle."

"You have a charter to service this community," Shufelt responded.

"Channel 6 Cablevision produces Sports Scene, News and Meet the Leaders. The rest is paid programming," Connor told Shufelt, adding that it does not look like Cablevision will be able to provide more local news at this time for additional municipalities. "I would love to cover more news."

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