Latinos Protest Cuts in Cable’s Use of KMEX : Demonstration in San Juan Capistrano Today to Call for More Spanish-Language Programs

When officials at Dimension Cable Services decided to cut back the hours that they provided Spanish-language KMEX, Channel 34, for their subscribers, they knew they were making “a tough decision.”

But some Latinos in southern Orange County are determined to make that decision even tougher.

Angered by the cutback, the Latinos have gathered more than 450 signatures in protest, Leticia Vargas, a cable subscriber, said. At 9 a.m. today about 300 people will stage a demonstration in front of the San Juan Capistrano City Hall and then at 10:30 a.m. walk to the offices of the cable company, she said.

“We are not getting what we are paying for,” Vargas said. Channel 34, a Los Angeles station that uses cable to carry its signal to southern parts of Orange County, is the sole reason many Spanish-speaking residents subscribe to Dimension, she said.

Pat Lopker, general manager of Dimension Cable, said the decision to change Channel 34 viewing times was made in an effort to please customers. The cable firm is owned by Times Mirror Co., which publishes the Los Angeles Times.

“We’re in the programming business, and we try to program for the. . . majority of our costumers,” Lopker said.

Late last year the cable company took a random survey and decided to change the KMEX programming schedule, Lopker explained. Previously scheduled from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. in certain areas, KMEX will now be carried from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. throughout the entire cable system, Lopker said.

However, Herbert Muniz of San Juan Capistrano said Dimension has not lived up to its word. He said he videotaped programming on June 30, July 1 and 2 and never saw KMEX during the times the cable company said it would appear.

Also, during June, KMEX programming consisted almost entirely of World Cup soccer games, Muniz said.

Lopker acknowledged “a problem with the time clock” on July 1 and 2, but he said it had been fixed. Dimension emphasized World Cup soccer coverage in June because of high interest among viewers, Latinos and Anglos alike, he said.

Dimension, which has 69,000 subcribers, is beaming a Tustin religious station during the daytime hours that used to be devoted to KMEX, Lopker added.

“We try to meet the needs of everyone. (Yet) the Spanish-speaking people don’t want religious programming on their station, and the religious people say why do you have a Spanish channel on,” Lopker said. “It’s a tough decision.”

Glenn Southard, assistant city manager of San Juan Capistrano, said the city has little say in the matter. A July, 1985, U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Washington struck down a regulation that cable companies must carry certain stations. Under the old regulation, KMEX was a “must-carry” station, Lopker said.

“It’s their business, not our business,” Southard said.

Subscriber Muniz said if KMEX is carried during the hours between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. “we’ll settle it at that.”

If not, Leticia Vargas warned, “our people are ready to turn in their little black boxes.”