Mtv Unplugged By Cablevision

Yakima Valley teens can chant “I want my MTV!” as much as they want, but they won’t be able to see it on TCI Cablevision from Selah to Grandview - at least for a while.

The 24-hour music video station is being dropped in favor of a Discovery channel called Animal Planet until TCI can increase its channel capacity.

The decision to drop the channel was made because the cable company wants to make more room for a broader scope of channels, especially those that are family oriented, said Shelley Bjornson, marketing manager of TCI Cablevision in Yakima.

“Of all of our basic services, it is the one we get the most complaints on. We have hundreds of requests to trap out MTV so it can’t even be put into households, which says something about the conservative nature of our community,” Bjornson said.

In the Yakima area, TCI the leading provider of cable television in the United States - serves about 33,000 households from Selah to Prosser. Customers in Prosser, Toppenish and Granger won’t be affected by the change.

And the company isn’t counting on MTV being dropped permanently, Bjornson said. It is expected to be added back next year when the company increases its channel capacity, she said.

When more channel capacity is added next year, the company will offer about 70 channels, she said.