A local television station has taken an unusual approach in its ongoing dispute with a pay television provider: Offering to compensate viewers who switch to a competing service.
This week, Circle City Broadcasting’s WRTV (Channel 6, ABC) in Indianapolis launched a new rewards program called “Insider” that offers a “free gift” to viewers who switch from DIRECTV to Comcast’s Xfinity TV or Charter’s Specrum TV and upload proof to the station.
The two pay TV providers were apparently selected for the campaign because they offer WRTV’s sister stations WNDY (Channel 23) and WISH-TV (Channel 8), which are not carried on some streaming cable-like services or satellite platform Dish Network.
Circle City said the campaign is intended to help viewers reconnect with “three Indiana-based, locally owned and operated television stations” that have been removed from DIRECTV platforms. WRTV was pulled from DIRECTV earlier this month, while WNDY and WISH have been unavailable to DIRECTV subscribers for a few years.
Circle City didn’t say what viewers will receive as their free gift, but a webpage launched to solicit proof from customers that they’ve switched from DIRECTV to a local cable operator also requires them to provide personal information like their e-mail address, a sign that viewers might receive marketing solicitations in the future.
“Locally-owned and operated television stations like CCB’s are essential to keeping communities informed and connected in a unique way,” DuJuan McCoy, the owner of Circle City, said in a statement on Monday. “At WISH-TV, WRTV, and MyINDY-TV 23, our focus is serving Central Indiana with local news, weather, sports, and community coverage. If DIRECTV will not fairly recognize the value of our local focus and quality network programming from CW and ABC, we will encourage viewers to choose providers that do.”
DIRECTV says it continues to work toward a new agreement for WRTV. It accuses Circle City of attempting to force carriage of two other local TV stations that have little interest among its subscribers and says Circle City wants more money for the distribution of all three stations on its satellite and streaming platforms.
Circle City says it is seeking a fair market rate for its channels that is below what WRTV’s former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, charged for the ABC affiliate, but doesn’t dispute it wants WISH and WNDY to return to DIRECTV as part of a deal.
In addition to Xfinity TV and Spectrum TV, WRTV remains available on Fubo and Hulu with Live TV. Most viewers in the Indianapolis region can also receive WRTV and the other two stations for free with a conventional over-the-air TV antenna.
