Matamoras and Westfall want their PA TV

By DAWN McELLIGOTT

WESTFALL, PA — Residents of Westfall Township and Matamoras Borough are trying to get their Pennsylvania-based TV stations back on their cable television service and they recently gathered 1,001 petition signatures to prove they mean it.

On September 30, 2003 Cablevision Systems Corporation of Bethpage, NY purchased the local cable company, Matamoras Video Cable Incorporated. On the same day, Cablevision removed all Pennsylvania television stations from Matamoras and Westfall service. Prior to that date there had been three stations, providing emergency information, school closing announcements, local election coverage and other area news.

On May 1, hundreds of Matamoras and Westfall residents packed the Matamoras Fire House to hear Temple University freshmen Austin LeMac advise them of a means in which TV coverage could be restored.

LeMac, a borough resident, has been involved with the issue since last fall, when he began a group known by the unwieldy name of the Matamoras Borough, Westfall Township Coalition for the Return of Pennsylvania Television Stations to Our Community. He began writing letters to various politicians, including U.S. Senators Arlen Spector and Rick Santorum. Both senators referred the matter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The senators responses were read aloud at the April 5 meeting of the Matamoras Borough Council.

LeMac returned home on May 1 for a rally, in which he reported the progress being made for establishing TV coverage in the area. Matamoras Mayor Richard Gassmann introduced a discussion panel for that evening, which included Westfall Supervisor Keith Peters, LeMac, and Brian Seeber, president of the Matamoras Borough Council.

LeMac said, “We’re gathered here tonight, not to hash on the past … what I’m here to do is present a viable option that’s been presented to me by the FCC to help restore our Scranton/Wilkes Barre coverage area. That’s our goal.”

Senator Spector had advised that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton stations that are interested in being carried on the system may submit a market modification request to the FCC.

Several stations were said to be interested and had asked that residents provide petition signatures that would confirm their interest in a filing to the FCC.

LeMac also told the audience that with the change, they would no longer receive New York or New Jersey stations as they had before with the old cable company; however, four Spanish language stations would be retained, even if the original PA stations could be restored.

No time frame was given for the stations’ applications to the FCC or the federal agency’s response.