Alaska's TV drama between cable giant GCI and NBC affiliate KTUU-TV continues. Programming from KTUU is headed for the chopping block at NBC affiliates in Juneau and Sitka this weekend if an agreement isn't reached by Friday.
The scheduled cut is the latest in a lengthy contract dispute between GCI and KTUU, an Anchorage-based NBC affiliate. KTUU programming went dark on GCI's rural Alaska cable systems on Nov. 8., affecting some 7,000 rural subscribers.
GCI sent out a press release Thursday announcing that KTUU programming is scheduled to end on Saturday, Dec. 7, at two stations, KATH in Juneau and KSCT in Sitka, which will air alternate news from One America News Network until an Alaska news broadcast is available. The affected communities are Angoon, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell.
At the heart of the dispute is a contract giving GCI permission to deliver KTUU programming to GCI cable subscribers. The contract, known in the television industry as a carriage agreement, expired in October due to a squabble between the entities over costs.
The companies have thus far failed to reach an agreement on a new carriage agreement. Meanwhile, both companies are trying to convince Alaskans that the other one isn't playing fair -- and both KTUU and GCI have links to the status of the negotiations on their websites.
GCI jumped into the fray of news production in early December, after the Federal Communications Commission ruled that its subsidiary, Denali Media, could purchase Anchorage-based KTVA, a CBS affiliate, as well as NBC affiliates KSCT in Sitka and KATH in Juneau. GCI has also spent an immense amount of money building a new, high-tech studio and assembling a news staff to go head-to-head with KTUU.
Negotiations between companies continued, though, and on Nov. 22 they announced that they had extended their deadline for discussions. The additional two weeks have not culminated in a solution, however.
GCI wrote on Wednesday that KTUU "turned their back on the deal they signed."
"That's not the case," said Brad Hillwig, marketing director at KTUU, on Thursday.
"We've been somewhat surprised at the messages GCI has put out, only because the deadline is not until Friday," Hillwig added.
Hillwig is "hopeful" that an agreement can be reached between the two companies by Friday night.
Contact Laurel Andrews at laurel(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @Laurel_Andrews