KCRA unavailable to South Lake Tahoe Charter customers, for now

Submitted by paula on Sun, 06/10/2018 - 1:58pm

Charter Communications allowed the Sacramento NBC affiliate, KCRA, to remain on their channel lineup through Tuesday's primary, but as of June 8 it is no longer available despite viewers and government officials reaching out.

A letter campaign to Charter and state officials began after the cable provider announced it would cut KCRA and show the regional KRNV out of Reno, all that they are required to do. A cable provider is required to show stations out of a Designated Market Area (DMA), and Reno is the DMA for South Lake Tahoe.

This cost cutting move made California voters living in Lake Tahoe irate, not giving them access to statewide political and other issues that affect them, something Nevada-based KRVN does not.

Charter tried to cut kCRA in 2008, but didn't follow through due to the number of complaints they received. So far, current complaints have not worked but the fight is not over.

"We are currently seeking help from our legislators (we wrote letters to McClintock and Feinstein) to change our DMA from Reno to Sacramento, which is an appeal to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission)," said El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel.

The County will be conducting a survey of residents to see if they'd like to change South Lake Tahoe's DMA to Sacramento, a move that would remove ALL Reno stations from Charter's lineup. Many residents watch Reno stations for sports and other area news.

In the meantime, those wishing to watch KCRA are able to do so on their phone or computer. Visit KCRA.com and click on "Watch on Demand" at the upper right to watch news and weather from KCRA 3 and KQCA My58. This will take you to live broadcasts weekdays at 4:30 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 5:30 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.. Watch live weekends at 7:00 a.m, 5:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. If visiting the site at any other time one will see recent newscasts on demand.

This function can also be accomplished on phones.