Cablefax The Magazine - July 2010 - 26

INDEPENDENT SYSTEM EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Charlotte McClure
VP/GM
Cable One
Cable One's Joplin, MO, system endured a brutal retransmission consent battle
with NexStar Broadcasting in 2005. Even though the station group pulled the
signal for its local ABC and NBC affi liates for more than 11 months, the damage
to the Joplin system was minimal, thanks to VP/GM Charlotte McClure.
The key was communications. A 29-year Cable One veteran, McClure made
sure her employees were briefed daily about the company's opposition to paying
cash for stations that viewers could receive over the air for free.
" We communicated on a daily basis with our associates, " she says. " They
understood our position and were not shy about sharing it with customers
wherever they were approached, be it in our office, at a checkout line in a
supermarket, a school function or at church. " In fact, " They made a point of
wearing the Cable One logo so that people would approach them. "
The way Cable One crafted and then presented the message also was
important. It was direct and easy to understand and Charlotte McClure's
fingerprints all over it. McClure is known throughout the small town of Joplin
(pop. 50K) for her deep roots in the community. She knows how to speak to
her neighbors. That's in part why Cable One's message was well received.
Basically the operator told subscribers: 1. We want to keep your rates
down. 2. Your neighbors who don't have cable are receiving these
channels for free. So, why should you have to pay for these channels
if your neighbor isn't?
The system also handed out some 6,000 rabbit ear antenna
to subscribers so they wouldn't miss their favorite NBC and ABC
shows, McClure says. The result of all this effort was that Cable One
retained most of its subscriber base.
It's not easy to explain the intricacies of retransmission consent to
Fast Facts
\ Cable One's Joplin, MO, system serves some 20,000 subs
and McClure leads 44 employees.
\ McClure began at Cable One in 1981 as a customer
service representative. She was promoted to assistant
manager at Cable One's Trenton, MO, system in '84.
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cable subscribers, who often blame their local operator when they lose
a network. But McClure and her team succeeded in getting subscribers
to understand that Cable One wasn't to blame, NCTC
SVP Dan Mulvenon says. " They explained that the loss
of the signals was not because they dropped them, but
because they were pulled, " he says.
Cable One is gearing up for another round of retransmission
consent negotiations with NexStar, with
its current agreement to carry NBC affiliate KSNF-TV
and ABC affiliate KODE-TV set to expire at year's end.
But after the previous battle, McClure doesn't expect
there to be a loss of signals this year. " I'm pretty confident
that we'll have it worked out before the end of
the year. "
July 2010
CableFAX: The Magazine
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - July 2010

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