Having received your email and concerns on the upcoming movie on CBS it is important to note that the affiliation agreement that most stations have with the Networks, that agreement is not as lenient as one might imagine. While we do have some discretion in programming, there is, per our contract with CBS, a very limited preemption policy of only a couple of hours per year. I have forwarded your concerns to Betsy Frank, my CBS contact. We have already used our allotment of preempt time this quarter in that we will be airing the Annual Christmas Parade on KCOY, Christmas morning. This is a repeat of the live coverage of the Christmas Parade on December 6, 2003 on KKFX. Most of the community have asked us each year to rerun the parade so that they have an opportunity to see the parade and their participation on television.
I am sorry that you feel that since we cannot preempt this movie, that you will no longer be a viewer of KCOY. In our local content, we endeavor to be a good citizen within our community. To be censored by our local viewers due to what we have limited control over disheartens us and the efforts we make within our community. I hope that you will reconsider KCOY and what we offer with our local news, community commitment and genuine interest in bringing all of our viewers the best we can possibly produce within our market.
There was also a smarmy little comment by the original addressee of my e-mail (the Gen. Mgr. of the station didn't have a working link):
"It's interesting that this movie is being pre-judged before anyone has seen it!" "
Whattabuncha arrogant jerks! Stupid, too. Whining "censorship" because someone tells them they're not going to watch their stupid TV channel!