Dateline: April 18, 2002

Classic will restore religious channel  

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Family Net will be returning to Clarendon’s channel line up, a Classic Cable official said this week, but airing local churches and the fate of the local community channel remains uncertain.

“We’re going to bring Family Net back on Channel 8,” Classic’s Barry Harbison said. “If the [Baptist] church wants to work out an agreement with Family Net, that’s up to them.”

The signal for Family Net will come from Classic’s head-in at their receivers on West Fifth Street rather than coming from the church’s receiver.

Mayor Tex Selvidge contacted Classic officials following a heated discussion at last week’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

“I told them if Family Net wasn’t back on the air by May 1, they would lose 300 customers,” said Selvidge, who was told the channel would be back on the air by May.

But the director of First Baptist’s television ministry says there is no sense in taking so long to get Family Net back on the air.

“It just took them two hours to take it off the air,” said Jean Ledbetter. “All they have to do is flip a switch and shut up.”

The First Baptist Church of Clarendon had operated Channel 8 free of charge for 10 years, airing their church services and Family Net, a Christian channel. The church also aired Methodist and Calvary Baptist services for $300 per year each. But four weeks ago, Classic pulled the plug on Channel 8 and Channel 11, which was run by the local radio station, seeking $25 per hour from local churches and $200 per month from the radio station.

Harbison said Classic is willing to work with other local churches to air their services for $25 per week. Getting the community channel – Channel 11 – back on the air is another matter.

“I can tell you this – it won’t be aired free of charge by a business selling advertising on it,” he said.

But Patrick Robertson, owner of Alliance Broadcast Communications, which operates KEFH-FM, told city aldermen last week he thought it was interesting that Classic, coming through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is telling his station and local churches how to run their businesses.

“Obviously, [Classic’s] understanding of business practices and manner of doing business has been much less than successful,” Robertson said.

Alliance has operated Channel 11 since 1994 and has borne all the expense for the equipment related to that channel, Robertson said. He estimates his company operates Channel 11 at an average loss of $239.33 per month or a total loss of $21,300 over the last 89 months.

Robertson also told the board that his company is working to bring a satellite provider into town.

“Our goal is to have 50 percent or more of Classic customer’s off their system by the end of the year,” he said.

City officials, meanwhile, are looking into the status of Classic’s franchise agreement with the city and whether franchise fees have been paid properly. And some city aldermen have also expressed interest in seeing if another cable company would like to come to Clarendon.