KSWT Yuma

The city of Yuma, Ariz., has sent a letter to Charter demanding the cable operator provide a credit to subscribers who have been without two Yuma-based stations since Feb. 1 due to a fee fight with their owner, Northwest Broadcasting. The stations affected are: CBS affioiate KSWT and NBC affil KYMA. The stations are two of 11 Northwest-owned network affiliates that have been blacked out in the dispute.

The conglomeration of all local television affiliates in Yuma under one roof has led to several glitches over the past few months, much to the consternation of viewers. But all the bugs, including those caused by transferring the signals from standard definition to high definition, should be worked out soon, says Paul Heebink, GM of the newly combined stations: KSWT (CBS), KECY (Fox, ABC, CW), KESE (Telemundo) and KYMA (NBC).

The group owners’ stations in three markets are now using Rentrak’s census-based local TV measurement currency.