Persistence has apparently paid off for city officials and the public in general that protested Mediacom Cable Company’s recent decision to remove a popular television station located in the Commonwealth.

Mediacom had earlier informed Albany Mayor Nicky Smith and other officials that because the Bowling Green station, as well as WBKO Fox Channel 15, also of Bowling Green, were not in the Nashville District (which covers the Albany/Clinton County area) under FCC boundaries, it would be removing both channels later this spring or summer.

After protests from Mayor Smith, city officials and the general public, the company has now recanted and has announced, in a letter dated last Wednesday, May 9, that WBKO ABC Channel 13 and WBKO Fox Channel 15 would remain as part of the cable company’s programming line-up.

Although WBKO will remain on the line-up indefinitely, the company left open the possibility of still removing the Fox 15 channel in the future.

In the letter addressed to Mayor Smith from Lee Grassley, Senior Manager, Government Relations with Mediacom, he noted in part that, “As you may know WBKO ABC-13 and WBKO Fox-15 are considered out of market signals under federal law. WKRN ABC-2 and WZTV Fox-17 from Nashville are considered your local stations. While there is a cost to carrying multiple ABC and Fox stations on our system, during the past several days it has become increasingly obvious that WBKO ABC-13 is extremely important to our local customers. Mediacom has always strived to manage the assets it has to bring our customers the best subscriber experience possible. It has been made clear that the quality of life issue involved here needs to be the overriding factor in the decision.

Mediacom has listened to all your concerns and is pleased to announce that we will continue to carry WBKO ABC 13 on our channel lineup in your community. We will also continue to carry WBKO Fox 15 for the immediate future while we examine its impact on the area as it relates to future carriage.

Mediacom wishes to thank everyone who helped us arrive at the mutually beneficial decision.”

Once the original announcement to remove the Bowling Green channels from the lineup was announced, Mayor Smith e-mailed the company with a protest, citing numerous reasons why the nearest channel on the cable to the Albany area was so important, including weather coverage, local news and sports coverage and other factors.

Also, a petition was immediately started at City Hall and local residents were urged–and apparently responded–to call, e-mail or inform Medicacom that they, as customers, wanted WBKO 13 to remain on the air locally.

Mayor Smith said Monday night that he wanted to thank everyone who called the cable company to voice their concerns, noting that was the biggest factor in helping keep the station on the air.

Smith noted that as of Monday (prior to the realization the cable company had changed its mind to keep the channel on), over 540 people had signed the city government initiated petition to keep the channel on the cable line-up, including a few that had signed the petition as late as Monday.

The mayor also thanked Mediacom for listening to the local residents’ concern and doing what was beneficial for its customers in the Albany area.