Buckeye Broadband

Buckeye Broadband (formerly known as the Buckeye CableSystem from August 1996 until May 2016,[1][2] and as The CableSystem prior to August 1996) is a cable and telecommunications provider located in Toledo, Ohio, United States, that is owned by Block Communications (which also owns The Blade and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspapers).[3] Buckeye Broadband provides cable television, broadband internet and home telephone services to customers in northwest Ohio and parts of southeast Michigan; in addition to its system in Toledo, Buckeye also provides services to Sandusky and Erie County in north central Ohio, which were formerly served by predecessor Erie County Cablevision.[3]

Buckeye Broadband
(a division of Block Communications)
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedToledo, Ohio
HeadquartersToledo, Ohio
Key people
Allan Block
(Chairman)
ProductsCable TV, Broadband Internet, Dial-Up Internet, WiFi Hotspots, Digital Voice
Websitewww.buckeyebroadband.com

Buckeye Broadband also operates the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN), a regional sports network focusing on minor league, high school, and college sports events, which launched on January 7, 2004.[3]

Services[4]

Video: Digital Cable TV, Video On Demand, Pay Per View, Whole Home DVR on up to 6 TVs, HD DTA converters (1 free per account) and over 100 HD options. Buckeye TV Everywhere: Cable TV customers watch streamed content from various cable TV programmers on Web enabled devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets and more.[5]

Internet: Multiple High-Speed Internet Plans - Ranging from 10 mbps to 1 Gigabyte speeds; personalized data plans and unlimited data available [6]

Phone: Buckeye Phone—3 Phone Plans Available—Digital home telephone service, using a hybrid VoIP[7]

Buckeye Brainiacs: Technical and equipment support technicians for Buckeye Broadband customers.[8]

Carriage disputes

WUPW

On December 12, 2012 at 5 p.m. Fox affiliate WUPW (channel 36) was removed by Buckeye due to a carriage dispute between them and Raycom Media, which had taken over WUPW's operations through a local marketing agreement with Raycom Media's CBS affiliate WTOL (channel 11) earlier in the year, and an increase in retransmission consent fees.[9] The two parties would take over a month to settle their issues, with WUPW returning to Buckeye on January 21, 2013.[10]

WNWO

Sinclair Broadcasting Group had purchased Toledo NBC affiliate WNWO-TV (channel 24) on November 25, 2013 via a merger with Barrington Broadcasting and immediately went into retransmission consent negotiations with Buckeye, on new terms which Buckeye was unable to agree to; Sinclair ended their consent to carry the station on December 15, 2013 for a long-term blackout of NBC programming in the Toledo market which was considered one of the longest ever of an over-the-air station in the cable industry, despite WNWO's long-known ratings struggles under previous ownerships.

WDIV-TV from Detroit remained available on Buckeye, but with all NBC programming blacked out due to WNWO asserting market exclusivity for NBC programming over the air. QVC was carried during WDIV timeslots with NBC programming, though NBC's on-demand service (which is negotiated separately by the network itself) remained available on Buckeye. However, Buckeye customers in Bedford Township were able to receive WDIV in the clear as Bedford is in the Detroit market.

In the meantime, CBET, the CBC Television station from nearby Windsor, Ontario, Canada was substituted on Buckeye to provide over-the-air coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs via CBC to their customers (Buckeye later "thanked" CBC with a television commercial, sung to the tune of the Canadian national anthem).[11] Cable coverage of both properties on NBCU's cable properties such as NBCSN and CNBC was unaffected by the dispute, as NBCUniversal's carriage agreements for their cable networks were unrelated in whole to the WNWO dispute.

On July 14, 2014, the carriage dispute between Sinclair and Buckeye officially ended with the two parties coming up with a new two-year agreement. As a result of the agreement, Buckeye subscribers in the Toledo area began receiving the WNWO-TV signal once again. CBET, whose standard-definition channel was part of the Buckeye line-up prior to the dispute, had both versions remaining on the system, though relocated to different channel positions.[12]

References
  1. Tyrel Linkhorn (June 1, 2016). "Buckeye undergoes name change Adding 'Broadband' reflects firm's evolution". The Blade. Block Communications. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  2. Jeff Baumgartner (June 2, 2016). "Goodbye, Buckeye CableSystem… Hello, Buckeye Broadband". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  3. "Buckeye channels its 50th year". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  4. "Buckeye CableSystem: The Best Cable TV, High-Speed Internet and Phone". buckeyecablesystem.com. Archived from the original on 1999-05-08. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  5. "HD/Digital Cable TV". www.buckeyecablesystem.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  6. "BEX High-Speed Internet". www.buckeyecablesystem.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  7. "Buckeye Phone". www.buckeyecablesystem.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  8. "Buckeye Brainiacs". www.buckeyecablesystem.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  9. The Blade: "Fox affiliate's legal dispute with Buckeye CableSystem also involves WTOL’s owner", December 13, 2012.
  10. http://m.toledoblade.com/business/2013/01/21/WUPW-back-on-Buckeye-Cable-lineup.html
  11. "U.S. cable jingle thanks CBC for bringing Olympics coverage to Toledo". Toronto Star. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  12. http://www.toledoblade.com/TV-Radio/2014/07/15/Buckeye-WNWO-reach-deal.html
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