Oh my gawd no ABC! They didn’t reach an agreement with the local cable provider Mediacom by January 1, so we don’t have them! Any day now we are likely to find someone who cares. Its a given there’s nothing on channel 5 (ABC in central Iowa), How about 5.3, Grit? The western channel? Not unless you like commercials, they put an 87 minute movie in a 2 1/2 hour time slot. I have literally seen them on a 6/4 split, 6 minutes of show to 4 minutes of commercials. I cannot tell you the name of a single show on ABC.

In late December the NBC affiliate channel 13 was going through this with Dish Network. Evidently they reached an agreement. The closest thing they have to something I want to see is on their retro channel, 13.3. And that’s only 2 half hour shows! My gawd cable TV is a wasteland. I refuse to watch any channel that has more that 8 minutes of commercials in a half hour, so that pretty much eliminates your network channels and the USA?AMC/Insp/A&E/TV Land and Hallmark type channels. Basically I’m left with Turner Classic Movies and the Weather Channel.

If they think I give a rip about their contractual tug of war, they’re nuts. I got the TV Key Antenna as shown on TV! I don’t need their crap. [All you have to do is go to Zap 2 It TV listings to see all the channels that Ames, Iowa doesn’t have because Mediacom is so pitiful.]