Morgantown may be the home of West Virginia University, but for viewers of DBS providers such as DirecTV and DISH Network it wasn’t the home of network affiliates based in an area to the south of the city.
That’s now changed, thanks to a successful petition filed with the Commission that brings stations owned by Gray Television and Nexstar Media Group to this all-important city in the Mountaineer State.
Until now, Monongalia County, W. Va. — on the border with Pennsylvania and home to Morgantown — was unable to receive the Gray-owned CBS affiliate serving the West Virginia cities of Weston, Clarksburg and Fairmont, to the south of Morgantown.
The same could be said for DBS subscribers that wanted to view Gray’s FOX-affiliated station serving Clarksburg, Fairmont and Weston, which airs The CW Network on its DT-2 channel; and for the Nexstar–owned NBC affiliate with ABC programming on its DT-2 signal.
DirecTV and DISH Network subscribers in rural Preston County, W. Va., due east of Morgantown and Fairmont, were also shut out of the West Virginia-based stations.
In September 2017, a petition for special relief for modification of the television market for CBS WDTV-5 and FOX/The CW WVFX-10 was filed alongside a similar petition involving NBC/ABC affiliate WBOY-12.
The Media Bureau on Oct. 13, 2017, placed the Petitions on public notice and sought comment. In short, residents wanted West Virginia TV stations — and not the Pittsburgh-based stations they’ve received for generations due to historical geographical reasons.
The Petitions were unopposed by any operator in Pennsylvania that benefited from having their stations available in the two West Virginia counties.
More importantly, both DISH and DirecTV filed certifications indicating that carriage of the stations into the two counties is feasible.
With that, the Media Bureau on Wednesday (2/7) released its Memorandum Opinion and Order granting the Petitions in full.
“Monongalia and Preston Counties are ‘orphan’ counties with insufficient access to in-state
programming, and precisely the type of communities that Congress intended to assist by broadening the market modification process,” wrote Steven Broeckaert, Senior Deputy Chief of the Media Bureau’s Policy Division.
In August 2017, Monongalia County passed a resolution to support residents wishing to have the local channels on DISH and DirecTV. Both Monongalia County and Preston County filed a petition on behalf of the residents.
