County TV channel added to second cable system

Nebo area customers now have access to McD-TV

By: Mike Conley | McDowell News
Published: January 31, 2012

After years of negotiations and the purchase of equipment by county officials, cable TV customers in Nebo and eastern McDowell can now watch the county’s local government channel.

County Manager Chuck Abernathy said Tuesday that the local government channel, called McD-TV, is now on the lineup of Morris Broadband. It can be found at Channel 11 and has been there for several days. Morris Broadband, which used to be Mediacom, serves Nebo and other communities in eastern McDowell.

“This is something we have worked on for years,” said Abernathy. “We have a lot invested in the channel. We are very pleased.”

Abernathy said he understands that Morris has around 1,500 customers in McDowell.

Years ago in the days before digital technology, county officials would take a videocassette of the County Commission meetings to the cable system office in Nebo so customers of what was then Mediacom could watch it. But with today’s technology, that way of doing things is obsolete. County officials continued to make many technical and programming upgrades to McD-TV and it can even be watched online at the county’s website. But cable customers in Nebo and eastern McDowell still couldn’t see it.

For some time, county officials talked with both the Nebo system and Charter Communications system, which serves Marion and the rest of the county, about getting the two interconnected so the channel can appear on Morris’ lineup. The channel has long been available on Charter’s cable TV system. It can be found at Channel 15.

The channel reaches around 17,000 to 18,000 households in McDowell, which includes the Morris customers too.

After talking with both companies, county officials were informed last year that the two systems could be interconnected. It would allow Morris customers to watch it just like the Charter customers. However, a transmitter would have to be purchased for Charter and a receiver for Morris. The cable companies informed the county it would have to pay for the equipment.

In March of last year, the McDowell County Commissioners agreed to use $12,000 from the county’s cable fund to purchase the equipment and get the systems interconnected. McDowell County gets earmarked revenue from the state, which is collected from cable TV bills, and this money goes into a fund that can only be used for cable TV purposes, county officials said at the time.