As they are flipping through the channels on their televisions, some Ironton residents have noticed that Channel 10, WBNS out of Columbus, is often replaced with C-SPAN.

Representatives from Adelphia Cable Systems said it is really a simple answer as to why this happens, but changing the situation is not nearly as simple.

"Ironton is not in Columbus' dominant marketing area, so Channel 10 is considered a long-distance signal, meaning we carry it subject to approval of local stations," said Randy Drewyor, Adelphia's area marketing manager for southern Ohio.

"WOWK CBS 13 out of Huntington, W.Va., has requested a non-duplication of programming and according to FCC regulations, we have to honor that request."

After WOWK provides the company with a schedule, Adelphia then sets up a timer to black the programming out during times of duplicated or conflicting programming. Instead of just running a blank screen, the company has chosen to broadcast C-SPAN, he said.

Drewyor said that the cable company is not required to carry the Columbus station in the Ironton area and just provides it as a "nice thing to do" for the community.

As of press time, Drewyor said he was unsure of how often or what particular programming is blacked out, but that it is typically only network exclusive programs.

Calls made by The Ironton Tribune to the local office were not immediately returned.

To Howard Perkins of Ironton, these explanations still did not quite make sense.

Perkins said he likes to watch the station in the mornings and has not been able to see any rhyme or reason to when they black it out.

"It just seems to me they are not providing the service we are paying for," he said. "If they are not going to provide this channel then take it off and reduce our cable bill. I think everyone would like that."