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Encyclopedia Dubuque

www.encyclopediadubuque.org

"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.




LABOR MOVEMENT and TELEVISION: Difference between pages

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[[Image:union1.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Organizing information. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]
[[Image:jerroldjl.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Photo courtesy: Jim Lang]]TELEVISION. Dubuque's hilly terrain made it a prime candidate for cable television in the early years of the industry. In 1991 cable television had gained 93 percent of the households with television as subscribers. This compared with a national average of 59 percent.  
[[Image:imp769.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]


LABOR MOVEMENT. The rise of the organized labor movement in Dubuque began with the rise of industrialization in the 1850s. Dubuque's first union belonged to the typographers during that decade. (1) There was a big strike on the newspapers late in March, 1863; half sheets were issued. In the end the union which demanded better wages was forced to give up the fight. (2) A meeting of all the "mechanics and laborers" of the city was called for July 28, 1864 at the [[DUBUQUE COUNTY COURTHOUSE]] for "the purpose of forming an association to protect themselves against the infringements of capital against labor." (3) Proprietors of livery stables in Dubuque followed this example by September, 1864 by establishing uniform prices. (4)
[[Image:rotor.png|left|thumb|200px|Rotor used to rotate a television antenna from within a house.]]
The top news story of 1950 was the bringing of "piped-in" television to Dubuque. Don Ameche's sons attended school in Dubuque when the co-axial cable was introduced. According to the Pittsburg-Press, Don worked better knowing his sons could watch him working "live" on television. (1) Jerrold,  Philadelphia-based company, applied on May 24 for a franchise to provide cable television to the city. Four days later two Dubuque television dealers also filed. An impartial study of the two companies was made by Town and Hughes, two Iowa State College engineers. The city council rejected the engineers' recommendation of Jerrold and called a franchise election for Dubuque Community, the local firm, on September 13th. The Jerrold group countered with a petition and won a right for a franchise election on October 11th. A fight was waged in newspaper advertisements and over the radio with a debate held in the Eagles Hall.  Dubuque voters went more than four to one against Dubuque Community in the first election. In the second election, the vote was 4,560 to 1,057 approving the franchise for Jerrold. (2)


In November 1865 teamsters at several lumberyards struck successfully to raise their daily pay from $4.00 to $5.00. The Dubuque Herald's article commented that important to the success was the demand for lumber and the limited number of teamsters available. (5)  
Dubuque-Jerrold, a subsidiary of a Philadelphia company, was granted the first franchise in the largest turnout of voters in any recent city election at the time. This company had been in competition with a local corporation-the Dubuque Community TV cable company--which had been endorsed by the city council. The first subscriber was hooked up to the system of five television stations in May 1955. It was found that as a direct result of the street system, a radial web with the center at 1043 Main Street would reduce the number of amplifiers needed. (3) Miles of coaxial cable were strung on existing power poles to connect the main office at 1043 Main which housed the electronics equipment needed to convert and distribute the TV signal to a 421-foot tower in St. Catherine, Iowa. (4) The city was divided into six areas for service. It was expected that Area One from Dodge Street to 18th street and between Bluff and the river would take five weeks for completion. (5)


A wave of organized labor strikes struck Dubuque soon after the [[CIVIL WAR]]. An editorial in the ''Dubuque Daily Herald'' of January 1866 commented:
Viewers in Area I were able to enjoy cable television on May 9, 1955.  They had their choice of five "snow-free" stations. There were two CBS channels (WMT-2 and WHBF-4); two NBC channels (WOC-6 and KWWL-7) and two ABC channels (KCRG-9 and WREX-13). (6) More than sixty miles of cable had to be strung and approximately fifty amplifiers had to be installed to make that evening possible.  Mounted on the tower near St. Catherine were five specially constructed antennas used to capture the five different frequencies transported on the system. Channel Two broadcast from Cedar Rapids was picked up on an antenna about seventy-five feet above the ground.  Channel 9, the weakest of the signals picked up, was captured by an antenna near the tower's peak.  It was thought possible that an extension on the tower would allow signals to be received from Chicago.  Getting the signal throughout the city required poles which were shared by [[INTERSTATE POWER COMPANY]] and Northwestern Bell Telephone.  In some cases the other companies had to move their lines to keep the TV cables at legal distances from other lines. There were also instances when poles had to be replaced. Even with the first cable television available, engineers for Jerrod were solving problems of interference from other signals. (7)


        Strikes--Strikes are the order of the day. The shoemakers
In 1963 MEDELCO completed the installation of cable-powered television in all three Dubuque hospitals. Families with patients in the hospital could ask the hospital office staff to have to have a cable-powered television installed in the room with no deposit, minimum time contract and "reasonable rates." (8) On November 5, 1963 local residents were asked to vote on Franchise Ordinance No. 25-63, as enacted by the city council on September 16, 1963. Viewers with the cable television could watch ABC, CBS, NBC and WGN Chicago television which offered Family Classics as a regular Friday night feature. There was also 24-hours of the "world's great music over crustal-clear FM stations, and thrilling FM stereo broadcasts." (9)
        struck and didn't get it, the boatmen have struck and ain't
        got it yet, and now the fever has broken out among the fire-
        men who will not run with the "masheen" any longer or let
        "Skysey take the butt" unless each company is allowed $300
        per annum. Their present salary, $100, would not pay for
        shoe blacking after running through a mud puddle. The boys
        are determined and mean "biz" this time and unless the
        council grants their prayer every man will have to play on
        his own fire. (6)


There was sympathy for the working man who found himself unwilling to continue working for poor pay--even if the "working man" happened to be black. (7)
On December 29, 1968 Dubuque television viewers experienced the first citywide breakdown since 1954 when cable came to Dubuque. According to Dubuque TV-FM Cable Company authorities the cable contracted in extremely cold weather. That evening the sudden drop in temperature caused the wires to contract so rapidly that a splice in the line pulled apart. Workers were out until midnight attempting to find the break, but quit due to the cold (-17 degrees). They resumed in the morning and discovered the break about 8:30 a.m. (10)


          Commendable Sympathy--We are informed that the whole crews
In 1969, WNIC-TV went on the air in the Dubuque as the city's only private television station.  It was named after its owner and producer, 13-year old [[SCHRUP, Nicholas III|Nicholas SCHRUP III]]. Schrup earned the money for the equipment by selling coffee grinders door to door. He operated the station out of the basement of his home at 330 Wartburg Place.  
          that lately left the service of the Packet company were
          soliciting subscriptions yesterday, to aid the black crews
          who are without money consequent upon their refusal to
          work as per contract. The company owes each man $37.80,
          not one cent of which will be paid unless they resume work
          and continue until the season of navigation closes. In
          passing a crowd of the black crews yesterday, one of them
          was humming in melancholy tone the popular refrain:
                      All the work is dark and dreary
                      Everywhere I roam,
                      On darkies how my heart grows weary
                      Far from the old folks at home.


Sympathy did not necessarily last. Workers on other boats began striking for higher wages at the end of July 1866 and harvest season was approaching. An editorial in the ''Dubuque Herald'' remarked at the companies would have little problem filling their crews since there were many men looking for work along the Mississippi. (8) The company instead chose, by the end of the month, to go back to Cincinnati for additional black crew members and hired 206 as strikebreakers. (9)
In 1971 the Federal Communication Commission announced its intent to require cable television to make channels available for public use as early as March 1, 1972. While this might have surprised others, Robert Loos, general manager of the Dubuque TV-FM Cable Company and local public and parochial school administrators had been discussing such a possibility. While greatly interested in the concept, administrators were concerned that school systems did not have the money for expensive equipment. Loos noted that the cable company were not demanding that broadcasts for educational enrichment be on professional quality. The FCC was also interested in providing channels of municipal use and one for use by the general public. Locally, this was a problem because the cable system was only a 12-channel system while other had a capacity for twenty channels. (11)  


The journeymen shoemakers of Dubuque went on strike on September 12, 1866. Calling on all the management, they presented their wage demands of increases ranging from twenty to twenty-five percent. When management refused to accept the demands, the factories closed. (10) The strike was short. Blaming "treachery of a few of the men who promised to stand firm yet kept pegging away at the old prices," the end of the strike and a return to the old wages was announced on September 16, 1866. (11)
In 1976 Dubuque was one of the first cities in the country to offer Home Box Office access. The same year the cable company constructed the first satellite receiving station in Iowa. Showtime replaced HBO in 1979. When the system was rebuilt in 1981 to accommodate thirty-five channels it was considered state-of-the-art television technology. In 1988, fifty-one channels were available.


Riverboat employees in 1873 saw their wages cut from $45-$55 to $35.00 by packet companies complaining of dull business. When the Red Wing reached shore in May, thirteen of the boat's employees left, but the boat continued on without them. (12)
The early history of cable television in Dubuque was marked by buyouts and mergers that resulted in new owners for the Dubuque franchise. These changes in ownership were given relatively little attention in comparison with procedures in place in 1991. Regional or local companies that furnished cable service to Dubuque have included H&B Communications and Dubuque TV-FM Cable. Teleprompter, the first national multiple system owner, took over the Dubuque franchise in 1972. Westinghouse bought Teleprompter and renamed it Group W in 1981.  
         
An early union, the [[KNIGHTS OF LABOR]], was founded in 1869 in Philadelphia. By 1888 the Knights had 30,000 members in Iowa. (13) Its rallying cry, "An injury to one is the concern of all," appealed to workers without regard to skill, race, or gender. (14)


Sometimes, it appeared to newspaper editorial writers, that strikers missed some of the uncompensated benefits offered by their jobs. In March 1874 gravel train workers struck unsuccessfully for wages better than the $1.25 they received per day. The ''Dubuque Herald'' reported the news and then added..."viewing the country for several times a day; that privilege made up for the extra twenty-five cents. Some men are hard to please." (15)
In 1986, when Westinghouse decided to sell off its cable division, Group W was the third largest cable television operation in the nation. Too large for any one company to purchase the entire operation, Group W was purchased by a group of five companies which then divided the company into separate territories. Tele-Communications, Inc., better known as TCI Cable Company, announced its plans to acquire the rights in 1986 and completed the process in June 1987.  


On July 16, 1877 those working for the Northwestern Railroad had their pay cut leading to talk of strikes. Reporters from the ''Dubuque Herald'' found railroad workers here very aware of the strikes, but not willing to join them. Rumors of meetings in Dubuque were unfounded. On July 25th the railroad had returned the workers to their previous pay. What concerned the ''Herald'' was the presence in Dubuque of a "force of detectives intended to cast a stigma on the employees of different railroads." These men "paid by railroad companies to set a back fire under any guise, whatever, is uncalled for, unjustifiable, undignified, in the extreme..." (16) If people had the idea, however, that the Herald was supporting strikers, they needed to read the editorial of July 27, 1877 which stated"
Group W provided a basic thirty channels, five premium pay services, and [[COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING]] with studios and equipment considered to be some of nation's finest. By September 1988,fifty-one channels were available to Dubuque viewers with a planned sixty-four channels to be available by September 1991.  


                  When the next payday comes, what will the
"Cable television pirates" were pursued by TeleprompTer TV-FM Cable Company in 1981. The problem was not new. In August, 1977 a special amnesty program by Dubuque's Teleprompter Cable resulted in 203 residents confessing to pirating cable service. (12) In 1981, six or seven independent operators advertised by word-of-mouth that they would connect homes to cable for a one-time-charge and no monthly bills. A reward of $100 was offered for the arrest and conviction of anyone found involved in such a business. "Stealing" cable signals was just as illegal as other types of theft.  At the time, Teleprompter was getting $7.25 per month for basic service and $9.95 for the Showtime movie and entertainment service beyond the cost of the initial installation. (13)
                  strikers do for their short pay? Strike
                  again, probably. If labor is to rule capital,
                  then capital will seek investment on loans
                  instead of manufactories.


Faraway strikes, however, continued to fuel thoughts of them in Dubuque. The following article appeared in the ''Dubuque Herald'': (17)
In 1981 the authority to regulate basic cable rates was written into the Dubuque cable franchise. In 1984, Congress, however, passed the Cable Communication Act which pre-empted rate regulation and major provisions of local franchises across the United States. Since that date, Dubuque gained a national reputation for its fight to maintain local rate regulatory power. In July 1990 the Federal Communications Commission ruled TCI Cablevision, the city's cable operator, had no effective local market competition and therefore restored limited basic rate regulation authority to the city. (14) This special provision to cable television regulation was known as the "Tauke Amendment" because it was first promoted by U. S. Representative [[TAUKE, Thomas|Thomas TAUKE]]. (15)


                  It was rumored on the street on Saturday
By 1991 the cable television industry in Dubuque was monitored by two commissions. The Cable Television Regulatory Commission, comprised of five citizen members, had the responsibility of franchise enforcement and settling disputes. The Cable Community Teleprogramming Commission, made up of nine members, had the responsibility to oversee the general policy and performance of the educational and public access channels.  
                  that the hands at Day's Mill would strike
                  for higher wages, but after the ring leader
                  got a good-sized flea put in his ear which
                  caused him to stare idleness and starvation
                  in the face, he concluded that discretion
                  was the better part of valor, and concluded
                  to go along about his business just as though
                  there had been no strike at Pittsburg.


[[Image:unionletter.png|left|thumb|250px|]]
The Regulatory Commission responded in 1991 to a proposed TCI billing promotion which also drew the attention of the Iowa Attorney General's office. TCI subscribers were given a free month of a premium movie channel called Encore to its system nationwide on June 3. If, at the end of the month, a subscriber chose not to continue receiving the channel a TCI technician would have to come to the residence and manually disconnect the channel at no charge. If they did not call, the consumer would be then be automatically billed for the new service. (16)
[[Image:union2letter.png|left|thumb|250px|]]The frustration of labor was shown in a letter written from Dubuque in June 1878.


          Dear Sister:
In response to the confusing "negative-option" marketing to get subscribers into taking Encore, the Regulatory Commission recommended that the city council enact an ordinance prohibiting the technique. Further, the commission recommended that the council use franchise fee money for "any legal avenues" to protect Dubuque consumers from this technique. (17) A TCI plan to allow customers to deduct the payment from their cable bill rather than calling for disconnection did not satisfy customers or the city council. (18) Acting to end legal issues around the nation, TCI dropped its controversial billing plan in June 1991 and made Encore an optional channel which customers would need to order to receive. (19)


          Your letter was received quite a long time ago.  I
Dubuque's only television station, KDUB, was founded by the Dubuque Communication Corporation in 1970. KDUB was originally based in an office building just south of Dubuque, near Key West, Iowa. The station eventually moved into offices on the ninth floor of the former [[ROSHEK'S DEPARTMENT STORE]] and later to 744 Main Street. The station went off the air from 1974 to 1976 because Dubuque Communication Corporation was unable to find a buyer for the financially troubled station.  
          did not intend to wait so long before answering it
          but I guess I have about. About the only news I can
          think of to write you today is that we have met a
          reduction of wages from 30 to 25 cents per thousand
          (?), which will make a difference of between two to
          three dollars per week. We had notification of it
          one week ago, and it took effect yesterday. As soon
          as we had been notified, a meeting of the Union was
          called, and we had a stormy session. The first vote
          was taken it was ordered to strike and drive the
          Union men out of the Times office; but finally as
          the Herald boys reflected to have to submit to
          the same or quit work another vote was taken and it
          was decided to let the men in each office do as they
          chose. Then the boys got to wrangling and finally
          voted to disband the Union and return the charter as
          it was of no benefit to us to keep up an organization
          when we could not keep us the prices. All the men have
          gone to work again, not knowing as they could do any
          better. The business has kept going down for the last
          five years, until it has got to be not much better than
          a common laboring man as regards prices. if I knew of
          anything else to do I would quit it. We are going to look
          for a new boarding place this afternoon and try to reduce
          our expenses in that way a little. Well Rickey is waiting
          for me now for that purpose, and we are going to bid the  
          Old Tremont good-bye and think we will try a private house,
          so I must close.
                                        Affectionately,
                                        Hiram (18)


On January 13, 1880 ice cutters working for [[FISCHER, WHEELER AND COMPANY]] struck for an additional twenty-five cents per day. "The firm procured a new gang and now are cutting ice as usual." (19) A rumor that the "sewing girls" of Dubuque were about to strike over low wages resulted in the following unusual remark in the ''Dubuque Herald:" These girls should be well paid for their labor, that the temptation of the libertine may be frustrated." (20)
In 1976 KDUB was sold to the Lloyd Hearing Aid Corporation of Rockford, Illinois, for $35,000. The station operation was moved to the ninth floor of the [[DUBUQUE BUILDING]]. In 1979 the station was purchased for $1.5 million by Birney Imes, Jr., who added it to a group of three other stations he owned. Imes sold KDUB in 1985 to Thomas Bond and six Alabama-based limited partners using the corporate name of Dubuque TV Ltd. for $3.25 million. Bond, formerly a television news anchorman, had been employed as the manager of an Imes television station in Columbus, Mississippi.  


In October 1880 all the tailors in the largest manufacturing companies in Dubuque announced a strike for higher pay. (21) By October 9th, seven major employers had agreed to the increase. (22) On October 16, 1880 the ''Dubuque Herald'' announced that all the tailors were back to work.
In May 1986, Group W Cable announced that it would continue network non-duplication protection for KDUB. By blocking the signal whenever identical network programming was being shown from KCRG, a rival ABC affiliate broadcasting from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Group W protected advertising revenue of the local station. This protection had been mandated until January of 1986 by an order from the Federal Communications Commission.  
         
Dubuque was the largest manufacturing city in Iowa during the 1880s. A profile of the city's working-class population in the mid-1880s indicates that a typical worker was employed ten hours daily with wage rates determined by age, job, and sex. Women and children, involved in low-paying factory, retail and service occupations, earned the least. Wages earned by women average one-third to one-half those of men. Boys received less than women and girls made less than boys. Common male occupations included blacksmiths, carpenters, machinists, railway workers, and teamsters. Unskilled male workers earned from $1.00 to $1.50 daily as compared to bricklayers who earned from $3.75 to $4.00. Common laborers rented homes while between one-third and one-half of the tradesmen owned their own homes. (23)


Prior to 1885, trade unions in Dubuque existed among printers, cigarmakers, locomotive firemen and engineers, tailors and bricklayers. Membership varied from twenty to forty. These groups protected their independence, decided work rules and wage scales, avoided politics, and held regular meetings. (24)
In December 1987 the sale was announced of KDUB for $4 million to Sage Broadcasting Corporation. Plans were made to expand local news, special programming, and sports in addition to upgrading the station's technical facilities.  


The lowest paying jobs belonged to women and children who worked in service and retail jobs. Men earned one-third more than women. Women received more than boys who earned more than girls. [[AFRICAN AMERICANS]] were left with work as cooks, servants or porters. Close supervision in the workplace meant little rest time, but many opportunities to be injured or die. Bad ventilation, explosions, fires, and unsafe machinery were common. Faced with such working conditions, workers attempted to band together.  
In May 1988, TCI Cablevision of Dubuque announced that it would end the non-duplication protection on April 1st, but that it would also move KCRG to Channel 26. This left KDUB as the only ABC affiliate on the low-numbered cable channels. KDUB had previously lost the non-duplication protection from October 1980, through November 1981. At that time the station announced that it had suffered a loss of $100,000 in advertising revenue.  


Attempts to organize and bargain for wages and working conditions required courage. Opposition to organized labor came from company management that resisted even recognizing union spokespersons. Union organizers were dismissed. Lockouts and strikebreakers were employed; labor organizers often found public officials tending to side with management.  
Sale of the Dubuque station, however, was stopped after KCRG filed two petitions with the Federal Communications Commission stating that Dubuque Television Partnership was unfit to hold the license. In January 1988, KCRG charged that KDUB with TCI Cablevision of Dubuque had conspired to limit KCRG's access to the Dubuque market by using the blackout of KCRG's signal. When the FCC approved the license transfer on January 19, 1989, KCRG filed an application for review.  


One of the first major breakthroughs in labor organizing in Dubuque came in the 1880s when the Knights of Labor organized building tradesmen and women garment workers at the [[H. B. GLOVER COMPANY]] and railroad workers on the Chicago and Northwestern.  
On March 17, 1989, the FCC approved the sale of KDUB. The next day, despite the favorable ruling from the FCC, it was announced the Dubuque station would not be sold; stating the delays in the FCC ruling had caused Sage Broadcasting to withdraw its offer. On April 10, 1990, KDUB sued KCRG in a $4 million lawsuit alleging that KCRG management had intentionally delayed the sale of the station, leading to the offer being withdrawn. The suit further stated that KCRG had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase KDUB in August 1987, for $2.4 million.


In 1887 efforts of Dubuque manufacturers to lobby the Iowa Legislature to block passage of Iowa's first factory inspection acts led the Knights to organize a political party. The Labor Reform Party successfully elected Dubuque's first "labor" [[MAYOR]], captured control of the city council and carried all other citywide offices. The January 1, 1887 of the Industrial Leader encouraged readers to follow independent political action. In February, a full slate of labor candidates was assembled for the municipal election. The Labor Reform Party declared the intention:
[[Image:kfxb.jpg|left|thumb|200px|744 Main Street in 2010]]In 1995, the KDUB entered into a management agreement with Second Generation of Iowa, owner of Cedar Rapids Fox affiliate KFXA (Channel 28). It was decided to discontinue the ABC affiliation and convert KDUB to a semi-satellite of KFXA, under the call letters KFXB; most programming was simulcast from KFXA, but KFXB would continue its news operation (at that time, KFXA had no newscast at all). Prior to this, the Fox network feed was re-transmitted on the Dubuque cable system on Channel 13. After a few years, it was decided to close down the Dubuque news operation. This made KFXB a full satellite of KFXA. During this time the stations identified themselves as "KFXA-KFXB Fox 28/40."


                to have laws made and executed in the interest
Limited choice for viewers in Dubuque was a problem for many years. In 1983 Group W tried an experimental pay-per-view broadcast of a WBA junior welterweight championship rematch. Group W needed to sell an estimated 750 converter units at $19.95 to make a profit. It sold only fifty. The memory of the experience lasted and in 1991 TCI officials were still doubting enough interest existed in Dubuque for the service. Those who wanted to see main events broadcast from Las Vegas needed to pay $20 per person and go to [[FIVE FLAGS CIVIC CENTER]] where broadcasts could be seen on a large screen television. (20)
                of justice, of morality, and of productive labor;
                so that the workers, who produce all the wealth,
                may not sink into deeper poverty, while the idle
                drones, who produce none, revel in increased
                opulence. (25)


Party planks addressed extravagance in the budget, inequitable taxes, rising debt, the contract labor system of performing street work, and monopolistic practices of 'corrupt rings and political tricksters.' (26)
TCI Cablevision officials announced in April 1991 that they had signed an agreement by which TCI cable would become a Fox Network affiliate. The FOX NET system would supply affiliates with an 18-hour-per-day program including Fox primetime programming, Fox Children's Network, and additional programming from the Fox film and television library. TCI would pay Fox a monthly per-scriber fee. TCI would have to rearrange its channels to include the new channel in its current 47-channel basic service. One over-the-air broadcast station, KOCR-TV of Cedar Rapids, carried Fox programming and had installed a low-power transmitter to air its signal on UHF channel 51 to Dubuque viewers. City officials, however, stated that the signal was too weak to be received by most city residents. (21) In July, 1991 KOCR-TV was "unplugged" due to its failure to pay rent. (22)


The results of the election were surprising. The Republican and Democratic strategy of portraying themselves and better for the general public failed. The entire Knights of Labor ticket were elected. [[VOELKER, Christian Anton|Christian Anton VOELKER]] was elected mayor and [[STAFFORD, John|John STAFFORD]] became the city recorder. (27)
The TCI expanded programming debuted on October 1, 1991. Subscribers were able to access home shopping networks, foreign movies, religious programming and more music videos. The new line-up offered sixty channel basic service. (23) That franchise agreement, however, came back to negatively affect Dubuque residents. Beginning in early April, 1993, Dubuque cable subscribers faced a channel realignment affecting 36 channels. The realignment resulted from TCI grouping together certain channels to make it easier to market. Nationwide, TCI was planning to offer a basic level cable service for $10 per month that would include local broadcast stations and public-access channels. An additional charge would be made to include advertiser-supported cable networks like CNN and ESPN. Since the Dubuque franchise called for sixty channels in a basic package, residents in the city did not qualify for the $10 charge. (24) In 1993 a nationwide 10% cut in basic cable costs did not benefit Dubuque subscribers either. (25)


The new council took controversial positions. In May the entire police force was discharged amid charges that it had been used to harass workers. Half of the new force was former officers and the other half all Knights. The subcontracting of labor was street work was abolished and replaced with day labor and the council gave a 40% increase in the daily wage for city work from $1.25 to $1.75 which was higher than wages paid to private sector labor. (28)  The council also rejected the offer of the county supervisors to have county jail prisoners to city work. The council responded by claiming the use of such labor depressed wages, offered unfair competition, and was nothing other than involuntary servitude. (29)
Subscribers wanting to see movies without going to the video store could begin receiving them over TCI cable on June 16, 1993. Pay-per-view movies, which could be ordered from home, cost $3.99 each. A special converter was needed which was already available to users who received premium channels like HBO or Cinemax. Converters could also be rented for $4.95 per month. This fee could be avoided if two movies were ordered each month. (26)


When the Knights swept into office, Dubuque's total indebtedness exceeded $800,000--the highest of any city in Iowa. Working on their pledge to begin a more equitable system of taxation, the council instituted a 20% increase in city tax assessments. As a result, the indebtedness dropped about 15% allowing community projects that had been stopped to pay for debt service. (30)
In a move that surprised communications watchers who felt that cable television and telephone companies would be competitors, Bell Atlantic announced on October 13, 1993 that it would buy TCI. Regulatory changes, however, allowed the two to become allies. (27)


During the time the Knights held public office, the goods and services produced in the city increased 20%; the local transportation system improved with two new railway lines, a new ferry company, a high bridge across the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]]; and a new fire alarm system was installed. (31)
Beginning on January 1, 1998 cable subscribers in Dubuque, Asbury, Sageville and most of rural Dubuque County could subscribe to TCI Cable. For $13.30 per month, customers could receive up to 36 more video channels. Customers who subscribed to the premium movie services also received additional channels. Due to TCI's use of digital compression technology more channels could be squeezed into a broad-band cable. The service was carried through existing cable into the home where it was converted by a digital compression terminal that sat on the television set. Customers did not need a digital television set to receive digital cable. TCI Digital Cable customers would continue to receive local networks and independent stations. Installation cost $12.50 including a phone line. (28)


Despite the achievements, political power for the Knights was soon ended. The local press and the Board of Trade attacked the new political party which was split by potential offers to join with one of the two major political parties. Within the Knights, arguments developed between those who believed in getting elected and those who felt lobbying was more effective. (32)
In March, 1998 voters in Dubuque approved giving McLeod-USA the chance to offer cable television in competition with TCI. McLeod had been offering local telephone service to Dubuque customers since July 1997. (29)


The fall election of 1887 brought Democrats back into power while the labor vote declined by 45%. In 1888 the Knights did not offer a separate ticket of candidates. The Citizen's Party of half Republicans and half Democrats won nearly all the city offices and most of the council seats. The Knights were never again to play an important role in local politics and they left independent politics in 1890. (33)
In 2004, KFXB's owners, Dubuque TV Limited Partnership sold the station to the Christian Television Network, who switched the station to its primarily-religious programming. Fox programming continued to be transmitted on KFXA - which operated as the primary Fox affiliate for northeast Iowa. At this time KFXB lost its longstanding Channel 4 assignment on the Dubuque cable system to KFXA, with KFXB being moved to channel 14.
 
The unexpected death of John Stafford, weakened patronage of the cooperatives, and election defeats all conspired to further weaken the Knights locally. In one of its last efforts, the Knights led the efforts in forming the [[DUBUQUE TRADES AND LABOR CONGRESS]], a citywide labor organization in July 1888. (34)
 
At the turn of the 20th century, Dubuque had the highest rate of union membership in Iowa with an estimated two-thirds of the city's workforce belonging to organized labor. (35) While this was true, economic forces were aligning to weaken the local economy. Local businesses were gradually driven out of business by larger companies. By 1910 the steamboat companies were out of business and the lumber industry had moved from the Mississippi Valley to northern Minnesota and the Pacific Northwest. (36)
 
Union organizing efforts from 1890 to 1910 focused on the building trades. Painters, iron workers, bricklayers, carpenters, sheet metal workers, and plumbers organized independent locals for each trade. Together these locals formed the Building Trades Council. The Teamsters became one of Iowa's strongest unions through help they received from the building trades.
 
A strike of motormen and coachmen against the [[UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY]] during the summer of 1903 lasted for seven weeks and resulted in the Iowa governor, his state labor commissioner, the president of the state labor federation, and a battalion of national guard troops coming to the city. (37) The belief that non-union strike breakers were brought to the city was supported when it was revealed they had all left Dubuque and were headed to Richmond, Virginia where a similar strike was in progress. (38)
 
By 1910 the estimated fifty unions operating in Dubuque made the city Iowa's labor movement stronghold. The local unions gained additional strength when they joined to form the Dubuque Trades and Labor Congress. The largest unions were those of the coopers, retail clerks, cigar makers, brewery workers, machinists, iron molders, and street railway employees. Despite several organizing campaigns, mill workers at the sash, door and blind factories of [[FARLEY AND LOETSCHER MANUFACTURING COMPANY]] and Carr, Ryder, and Adams remained unorganized until the mid-1930s.
 
Through [[WORLD WAR I]], the role of organized labor in the business climate of Dubuque was controversial. Powerful unions were charged with obtaining wages too high for Dubuque manufacturers to compete economically with other major Iowa employers or to attract new industry. The [[HARMONY MOVEMENT]], according to labor leaders, sought to weaken efforts to unionize companies. Labor advocates charged that some local businessmen conspired to keep new industries out of Dubuque to maintain a large pool of potential labor.
 
Hard times for organized labor came during the 1920s. Nationwide, union membership declined from over 5 million to a little over 3.5 million. (39) The" open shop" concept in which there was no recognition of organized labor was, it was claimed, renamed the "American Plan" to hide its anti-union nature. The machinists at [[KLAUER MANUFACTURING COMPANY]] and [[A.Y.MCDONALD MANUFACTURING COMPANY]] lost strikes. In 1922 an unsuccessful strike for higher pay lasted three months at the [[MILWAUKEE RAILROAD SHOPS]] in an attempt to raise the top rate to eighty cents. In 1924 representatives of six shop crafts, known as System Federation 76, of the Milwaukee line met in Dubuque to take positions on issues affecting the labor force. John Utzig of Dubuque was the federation president. (40)
 
[[Image:imp148.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Belt Buckle. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]
[[Image:unionpins.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Assorted union pins associated with John Deere. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]
[[Image:unionhall.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Garfield St. Photo in 2011]]
 
Often unable to compete nationally, local business leaders' reactions to organized labor led to layoffs and a reduction in the workforce. Estimates have been made that between 1927 and 1934, over thirty firms closed down or left Dubuque. This resulted in the loss of 2,200 manufacturing jobs. Replacing these were thirteen new businesses employing only three hundred workers. (41)
 
[[File:DanceTickets.JPG|250px|thumb|left|Photo courtesy: Paul Lembke]]The [[GREAT DEPRESSION]] led to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States and the start of the New Deal. Of all of these programs, the one which affected organized labor the most was the National Recovery Administration, called by its initials, the N. R. A. This agency allowed businessmen to fix prices and allocate production quotas through codes of competition.  Included in the law was the famous section, Section 7(a), which provided that every code of fair competition must provide employees the right to form and join unions of their own choosing in order to bargain collectively with their employers. Section 7(a) served as a spark for the labor movement.  Immediately, workers across the nation again began to form unions. (42)
 
In 1933 the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen organized at the [[DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY]]. Bell Telephone workers were organized later in the decade by the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). A bitter strike against [[ROSHEK'S DEPARTMENT STORE]] led to renewed strength in the Teamster's Union. The Upholsters campaigned to organize [[FLEXSTEEL INDUSTRIES, INC.]] and the farm equipment workers. In 1948 the United Auto Workers were successful at the [[JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS]].
 
Through the late 1970s, manufacturing dominated the Dubuque economy. This changed rapidly. Affected by the national economic recession, between 1979 and 1982 John Deere reduced its work force from an estimated 8,700 to 5,300. The Dubuque Packing Company laid off 1,450 employees out of a total 2,700. In early 1982 when Deere temporarily shut down the Dubuque plant, the city's unemployment rose as high as 23%.  Most of the jobs lost were in high paying manufacturing companies with unions. New jobs were generally in small scale and private chain stores that higher non-union employees and paid minimum wages. (43)
 
While manufacturing companies were reducing their mainly male work force, female workers entered the work place in significant numbers. Often taking seasonal jobs in the service sector, these employees received low wages with little of no benefits. Employment was non-union and part-time. (44)
 
Cities like Dubuque with a few major employers were more greatly affected by national economic conditions. The prosperity of the period from 1960-1980 increased Dubuque's population, while the recession of the 1980s led by some estimates to a loss of more than 10% of the population. (45)
 
Those fortunate enough to keep their jobs had to settle for reduced wages and benefits.  Adjusting for inflation, workers in 1988 employed in production took home $5,448 less than they earned in 1981. Clerical workers took home $4,018 less and service employees lost $2,385. (46)
 
Reflecting the involvement of the federal government in labor issues, representatives of the conciliation service of the U.S. Department of Labor and officials of the AFL met in 1942 to resolve differences when several hundred workers belonging to the Battery Workers Union Local No. 22516 at the General Dry Batteries Company plant in Dubuque walked out. (47)
 
In 1979 the union members at the John Deere Dubuque Works were the last to agree to a new contract between the company and union. A twenty-two day strike ended with protest after the United Auto Workers informed the members that the Dubuque strike was illegal and unauthorized. Union members had rejected the contract by a vote of 3,239 to 506 one day before a district judge had issued an injunction against continued picketing. (48)
 
On July 1, 1975 collective bargaining was approved in Iowa for public school employees. Teachers in the [[DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT]] voted to have the [[DUBUQUE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION]], a representative of the National Education Association, represent them and the first negotiated agreement with the District was written.
[[Image:UAW1.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Image courtesy: Mike Day. Kendall C. Day family collection]]
 
The faculty of the University of Dubuque gained a unique status in the 1970s by being the first in a private institution of higher education west of the [[MISSISSIPPI RIVER]] to request collective bargaining. The "Contractual Agreement Between the Faculty Association of the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Dubuque" was signed on June 4, 1974. Articles of the agreement included: recognition, board rights, association rights, student rights and freedom, academic freedom, faculty rights and responsibilities, working conditions, academic ranks, personnel policies, promotion, tenure, dismissals, termination and resignations, personnel files, grievance and arbitration, and salary and fringe benefits. Appendixes included the joint statement on rights and freedoms of students and the salary schedule. This agreement remained in effect until August 31, 1975. (49)
 
In December 1983 the question of whether the faculty would retain collective bargaining rights went before a hearing of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing resulted from a petition University of Dubuque administrators filed in November with the NLRB regional office in Peoria, Illinois. The non-union administrators asked the board to determine whether university faculty fell under a Supreme Court ruling that banned faculty at a private college from bargaining collectively (1980 Yeshiva decision). The Supreme Court had ruled that faculty at Yeshiva University, a private four-year college in New York were managerial employees that therefore not subject to the NLRB. University of Dubuque administrators argued that faculty exercised excessive managerial rights. The faculty at the time was bargaining as the Faculty Association of the College of Liberal Arts, an affiliate of the National Education Association and the Iowa State Education Association. (50) The action of the administration was seen as "union-busting" and picketing was carried out by members of the college faculty and teachers of the [[DUBUQUE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION]], also an affiliate of the Iowa State Education Association. (51) The National Labor Relations Board eventually ruled against the faculty which lost its collective bargaining rights. (52)
 
[[Image:packpunch.png|left|thumb|250px|Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]Recent years have witnessed fewer strikes and increased labor-management cooperation as the threat to American jobs is seen from foreign competition. Cooperation between labor and management led to the development of the [[DUBUQUE AREA LABOR-MANAGEMENT COUNCIL]]. Leadership of organized labor through these changing times has been provided by such leaders as [[CLARK, Hugh D.|Hugh D. CLARK]], [[GROGAN, John|John GROGAN]] and [[MAAS, Mel|Mel MAAS]].
 
A glaring exception to the labor-company cooperation was the history of the Dubuque Packing Company and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 150-A. In 1980 "the Pack" was the second largest employer in the economy of Dubuque, one of nine cities nationwide in which the company had plants. (53) Workers "on the line" earned an average of $25,000 in annual wages plus an additional $11,000 in fringe benefits according to company estimates. This included an average of five weeks of vacation per year.
 
[[Image:imp457.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Letterhead: Photo courtesy: Bob Reding]]
[[File:servicepin.png|200px|thumb|left|Years of service pin.]]The recession of the late 1970s hit Dubuque. In 1981 the company claimed that it had lost $25 million since 1979. (54) Of the 115 men working in the beef kill, the youngest had 21 years of seniority resulting in a large number of benefits the company had to pay. The company wanted the production standard increased from 115.8 head of cattle per hour increased to 160. Union officials noted that with incentive pay, the workers were already slaughtering more than 115.8 but not 160. Union officials acknowledged that the company could build a one-story facility increasing efficiency over the five-story Dubuque plant where carcasses had to be moved from floor to floor. They also agreed that the company would probably gain from property tax concessions from any community near a new plant and that younger workers would cost less.
 
Blaming a changing market, high wages, and inefficient equipment, the company asked for wage and benefit concessions and closed parts of the Dubuque plant promising only to "maintain a presence" in Dubuque.  The hog kill was closed in 1981 with a loss of 1,400 jobs when the company relocated the operations to Rochelle, Illinois. (See NLRB ruling below.)
 
In April 1982, officials of Dubuque Packing Company announced they would close the Dubuque plant on October 16th. This action had the potential of creating unemployment for 1,200 workers and possibly raising Dubuque's unemployment rate to 17.3 percent.
 
On May 12, 1982 United Food and Commercial Workers Local 150-A members voted to reject the company's latest 11-point benefit and concessions package. [[MAAS, Mel|Mel MAAS]] stated the workers "had enough and decided the company was going to close the plant regardless." The concessions would have included a drop of base wages from $9.00 to $8.00, a loss of a week in vacation time, a limit on yearly vacations to three weeks, and an increase in worker payment of their medical insurance. (55)
 
Workers were angered by the closing. As early as 1974, Dubuque Pack had purchased new packing plants like one in Mankato it had leased since 1972. (56) Expansion in Mankato had included a new warehouse, installation of a rendering system and growth in the stockyards. (57) Union members in Dubuque considered such activities as threats used by the company to force wage concessions.
 
In the fall of 1982, the President and Chairman of Dubuque Packing Company Charles E. Stoltz sold the packing plant and its fleur-de-lis trademark for $30.5 million to a group which included [[WAHLERT, Robert Henry|Robert Henry WAHLERT]]. The packing plant resumed operations as [[FDL FOODS INC.]] The sale resulted in approximately five hundred employees being forced to accept lower wages or early retirement. Workers now made $6.00 an hour instead of the $14.00 they had made previously with an incentive program. (58)
 
In 1984 a district court ruled that the company had to pay full retirement benefits to eligible employees. When the company was sold, officials indicated that they wanted to take away some of the employees health, medical, and insurance benefits. The court ruled that the company should comply with an arbitrator's decision in 1983 and pay the fees of the attorney representing the union.
 
In 1985 the headquarters was moved to Omaha, Nebraska to be more centrally located to its other plants, which were processing primarily beef at that time. The company again flourished and was later sold in a leverage buyout to BeefAmerica, a firm controlled by Eli Jacobs. Its gelatin operations were sold to the French company Sanofi. BeefAmerica went out of business in 1998 following a recall and a strike.
 
America's unions received an important announcement on June 14, 1991 as a result of company actions taken at the packing company. The National Labor Relations Board, in a unanimous ruling, found that the Dubuque Packing Company had violated federal labor law by refusing to negotiate with union workers over the movement of the hog kill operations from Dubuque to Rochelle, Illinois. (59)
 
The U. S. Court of Appeals said that the case posed "hard questions--some of the most polarizing questions in contemporary labor law." It then referred the case back to the NLRB for clarification of the bargaining obligation issue. The ruling placed the burden of proof on the employers as to why they should be free of bargaining with their unions when they choose to relocate. (60)
 
Dave Baker, president of General Drivers and Helpers Union Local 421 said in January 1991 that he was contacted by employees of the [[DUBUQUE CASINO BELLE]] in November of 1991. Iowa's riverboat gambling law then required that employees had to be paid 25% more than the federal minimum wage. Iowa's minimum wage increased forty cents in January, 1992 but the federal minimum had remained the same. (61)
 
In what many called a bitter strike, employees of [[A.Y.MCDONALD MANUFACTURING COMPANY]] staged a nine-week walkout before a contract settlement was reached. Members of Local 1238 of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Local 263 of the International Molders and Allied Workers Union approved the terms by "a close vote" (62)
 
Employees at [[AREA RESIDENTIAL CARE, INC.]] voted in July, 1992 to be represented by Teamsters Local 421 for collective bargaining. Two votes had to be taken. Professional employees including social workers, registered nurses, and recreation coordinators had a separate ballot. [[WARNER, Gary|Gary WARNER]], executive director of ARC, admitted that the financial picture for human services agencies was very concerning to staff because of the "financial picture at the state and county level." (63)
 
In 1993 about thirty percent of the work force in Dubuque was still unionized. This was above the national average of sixteen percent. (64)
 
In 1997 the national strike of the Teamsters Union against the United Parcel Service (UPS) was seen as positive for labor in Dubuque. In contrast to the failed strike by air traffic controllers nationally, the UPS incident increased the number of full time employees from part-time, increased pay, reduced sub-contracting, and kept pension plans under union management. Dave Baker, president of Teamsters Local 421 in Dubuque, remarked that, "the message is that workers want to be treated with dignity." (65)
 
Security employees at the [[DUBUQUE GREYHOUND PARK AND CASINO]] joined the United Steelworkers of America Local 1861-U. In 1997 the racing association board ratified a three-year contract involving wages, benefits, and non-economic issues including seniority. (66)
 
History for Deere and Company was made in 1997 with the signing of a six-year contract between the company and the United Autoworkers International. The previous negotiations had continued past the deadline and it took another five months before an agreement could be reached. (67)
 
A vote on union affiliation at [[EAGLE WINDOW AND DOOR]] set for April 24, 1998 was cancelled by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Works. The local workforce was "not fully prepared to organize." The reason given was the high turnover rate in the four years since the last vote at the Dubuque plant. The last election on June 24, 1994 had resulted in a vote of 165-129 in favor of organizing. Another 49 ballots were contested and later changed the outcome. By withdrawing its petition for a second election, the union ended its four-year campaign to organize the workers. (68)
 
On April 13, 2010 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced it had assumed responsibility for the underfunded pension plan covering nearly 1,300 former employees and retirees of the defunct Dubuque Packing Co. (69)
 
The PBGC stepped in because the Dubuque Packing Co. Supplemental Pension Plan faced abandonment as its board of administration prepared to disband. The board had remained as plan administrator after Dubuque Packing liquidated and dissolved in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It was announced that retirees would continue to receive their monthly benefit payments without interruption, and other workers would receive their pensions when they were eligible to retire. (70)
 
The pension plan was 36 percent funded, with about $1.9 million in assets and nearly $5.2 million in benefit liabilities, according to PBGC estimates. The agency expected to cover the $3.3 million shortfall, and would take over the assets and use insurance funds to pay guaranteed benefits earned under the plan, which ended on March 31, 2010. The PBGC became trustee of the plan on April 8, 2010. (71)
 
The PBGC sent trusteeship notification letters to all plan participants. Under federal pension law, the maximum guaranteed pension at age 65 for participants in plans that terminated in 2010 was $54,000 per year. The maximum guaranteed amount was lower for those who retired earlier or elected survivor benefits. The PBGC expected that pension payments to retirees and beneficiaries under the Dubuque Packing plan will not be reduced by guarantee limits. (72)
 
In 2012 the [[DUBUQUE WORKERS' ACADEMY]] was offered by the University of Iowa, Dubuque Federation of Labor and the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
 
See: [[AFRICAN AMERICANS]]


KFXB added cable coverage of the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas on Mediacom cable in 2005.


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1. "Labor Unions in Iowa," Iowa Pathways, Online: http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/myPath.cfm?ounid=ob_000290
1. Steinhauser, Si. "Originals to Be Heard, Not Seen," ''Pittsburgh Press'', December 13, 1950, p. 10. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19501213&id=sXgbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ak0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2912,6710013&hl=en
 
2. Oldt, Franklin T. '''History of Dubuque County, Iowa'''. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-16-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml
 
3. "Labor vs. Capital," ''Dubuque Democratic Herald'', July 27, 1864, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18640727&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
4. "Uniform Scale of Prices," ''Dubuque Democratic Herald'', September 21, 1864, p 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18640921&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
5. "Struck and Got It," ''Dubuque Herald'', November 14, 1865, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18651114&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
6. "Strikes," ''Dubuque Daily Herald'', September 28, 1866, p. 3. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=_OG5zn83XeQC&dat=18660928&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
7. "Commendable Sympathy," ''Dubuque Daily Herald'', September 28, 1866, p. 3. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=_OG5zn83XeQC&dat=18660928&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
8. "Struck for Wages, ''Dubuque Herald'', July 24, 1866, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18660724&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
9. "Negro Crews Coming," ''Dubuque Herald'', July 31, 1866, p. 4. Online:
 
10. "On A Strike," ''Dubuque Herald'', September 13, 1866, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18660913&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
11. "Shoemakers Strike Ended," ''Dubuque Herald'', September 16, 1866, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18660916&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
12. "Struck for Wages," ''Dubuque Herald'', May 4, 1873, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18730504&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
13. "Labor Unions in Iowa."
 
14. "Iowa's Role in Labor History," Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, Online: http://www.carpentersunion.org/about/iowas-role-labor-history
 
15. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', March 11, 1874, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18740311&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
16. "The Strikers," ''Dubuque Herald'', July 26, 1877, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18770726&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
17. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', July 29, 1877, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18770729&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
18. Letter. e-Bay. November 4, 2015
 
19. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', January 14, 1880, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18800114&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
20. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', January 15, 1880, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18800115&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
21. "Tailors' Strike," ''Dubuque Herald'', October 7, 1880, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18801007&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
22. "Caught on the Fly," ''Dubuque Herald'', October 9, 1880, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18801009&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
 
23. Scharnau, Ralph. "Workers and Politics--The Knights of Labor in Dubuque, Iowa 1885-1890, '''Annals of Iowa'''. Des Moines: State Historical Society of Iowa, Volume 48, Number 7 (Winter of 1987), p. 355
 
24. Ibid., p. 356
 
25. Ibid. p. 365
 
26. Ibid.
 
27. Ibid., p. 368
 
28. Ibid., p. 369
 
29. Ibid. p. 370
 
30. Ibid. p. 373
 
31. Ibid. p. 374
 
32. Ibid.
 
33. Ibid. p. 375
 
34. Ibid. p. 376
 
35. Chaichian, Mohammad A. '''White Racism on the Western Urban Frontier-Dynamics of Race and Class in Dubuque Iowa (1800-2000)''', Trenton NJ: Africa World Press, Inc. 2006, p. 187
 
36. Ibid.
 
37. "Story of the Strike," ''Telegraph Herald and Times Journal'', March 24, 1933, p. 14
 
38. "Echoes from Dubuque Newspapers," ''Clinton Mirror,'' July 4, 1903. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2281&dat=19030704&id=caIoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CAYGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6042,1191791&hl=en
 
39. Chaichian, p. 188
 
40. "Milwaukee Road Changes Over to Electric Power in Big Shops at Dubuque," ''The Milwaukee Journal'', July 18, 1916. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19160718&id=QaxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FiEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6055,3416556&hl=en
 
41. Chaichian, p. 189
 
42. "Iowa's Role in Labor..."


43. Chaichian, p. 193
2. "Television Cable Argument Rated Top Dubuque News Story of Year," ''Telegraph Herald'', January 2, 1955 Dubuque News, p. 1


44. Ibid., p 194
3. Talbott, Douglas. "Topography of City Teachers Useful Lesson, ''The Telegraph-Herald'', May 8, 1955, p. 8


45. Ibid.
4. "TV Cable Stringing Expected to Start This Week; Areas Named," ''Telegraph Herald,'' January 16, 1955, Dubuque News, p. 1


46. Ibid., p. 195
5. Ibid.


47. "Dubuque, Iowa." ''The Milwaukee Journal'', October 29, 1942, Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19421029&id=0O0ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5CIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2779,5754495&hl=en
6. "Dubuque in the 1950s," '''Dubuque by the Decades''', ''Telegraph Herald'', July, 2020, p. 22


48. "Deere Employees Return," ''The Daily Reporter'', October 13, 1979. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1926&dat=19791013&id=H1srAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dNkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2065,1543324&hl=en
7. "Area I Subscribers Will Enjoy Cable TV Monday," ''Telegraph Herald'', May 8, 1955, p. 14


49. ERIC-Contractual Agreement Between the Faculty Association of the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Dubuque and the University of Dubuque. Dubuque Univ., IA. Online: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED104194
8. Advertisement, ''Telegraph-Herald'', May 5, 1963, p. 20


50. Goessl, Joan. "UD Faculty May Lose Collective Bargaining," ''Telegraph Herald'', December 15, 1983, p. 3A
9. Advertisement, ''Telegraph-Herald'', November 4, 1963, p. 5


51. Lyon, Randolph. President of the Dubuque Education Association from 1982-1986
10. "Cable TV Knocked Out," ''Telegraph-Herald'', December 30, 1968, p. 1


52. Interview with Ralph Scharnau, January, 2015
11. Babcock, Susan, "CATV and School," Telegraph Herald, September 27, 1971, p. 6


53. Chaichian, p. 192
12. Day, Mike, "Research Reveals Odd Occurrences in Late '70s," Telegraph Herald, December 19, 2021, p. 10A


54. Ibid.
13. Hogstrom, Erik, "1981: Cable Provider Takes Aim at Piracy," '''Telegraph Herald''', Dec. 10, 2021, p. 6A


55. "Dubuque Pack to Close," ''The Daily Reporter'', May 12, 1982. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1907&dat=19820512&id=oWMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pdkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2983,2256088&hl=en
14. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Cable Battle Refought Nationally," ''Telegraph Herald'', June 13, 1991, p. 1


56. "Dubuque Announces Purchase of Mankato Packing Plant," ''Jewell County Record'', May 30, 1974. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1393&dat=19740530&id=aF1lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8JMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3290,3501346&hl=en
15. Webber, Steve. "Cable Bill with Dubuque Provision Survives Round," ''Telegraph Herald'', June 17, 1992, p. 3A


57. Ibid.
16. Arnold, Bill."Cable Bill Procedure Probed," ''Telegraph Herald'', May 15, 1991, p. 1


58. Chaichian, p. 193
17. Arnold, Bill. "Panel: Ban TCI Billing Plan," ''Telegraph Herald'', May 29, 1991


59. "Union Wins on Plant Moves," ''The Tuscaloosa News'', June 16, 1991, Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19910616&id=vDgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=06UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5893,3892826&hl=en
18. Gilson, Donna. "TCI Backs Down on Encore Channel," ''Telegraph Herald,'' June 11, 1991, p. 1


60. Ibid.
19. "TCI to Handle 'Encore' as Optional Channel," Telegraph Herald, June 14, 1991, p. 3A


61. "Union Meets Boat Workers," ''The Daily Reporter'', January 30, 1992, Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1907&dat=19920130&id=bl4rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4dkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3699,2547628&hl=en
20. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Official: Not Enough Interest in Trying Pay-Per-View Service," ''Telegraph Herald'', March 18, 1991, p. 3A


62. Japsen, Bruce. "Unions End A.Y. Strike," ''Telegraph Herald'', August 8, 1991, p. 1
21. Arnold, Bill. "Fox Network Signs With TCI," ''Telegraph Herald'', April 2, 1991, p. 3A


63. Bergstrom, Kathy. "ARC Employees Vote for Union," ''Telegraph Herald'', July 2, 1992, P. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19920702&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
22. Arnold, Bill. "KOCR's Plug Pulled; Failure to Pay Rent Cited," ''Telegraph Herald'', July 4, 1991, p. 3A


64. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Labor Historian: Dubuque Unions Not Dead, Just Regrouping," ''Telegraph Herald'', January 14, 1993, p. 3A
23. Dickel, Dean. "Channels to Debut October 1, 1991," ''Telegraph Herald'', September 7, 1991, p. 1


65. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Local Labor Officials: Outlook Good," ''Telegraph Herald'', September 1, 1997, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19970901&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
24. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Cablevision to Adjust Basic Service," ''Telegraph Herald'', January 14, 1993, p. 3A


66. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Racing Association Ratifies Union Contract," ''Telegraph Herald'', September 24, 1997, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19970924&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
25. Arnold, Bill. "Cable Ruling Won't Affect Dubuque," ''Telegraph Herald'', April 2, 1993, p. 3A


67. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Proposed Deere Pact Covers Six Years," ''Telegraph Herald'', October 2, 1997, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19971002&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
26. Eiler, Donnelle. "TCI Begins Pay-Per-View Movie Service," ''Telegraph Herald'', June 16, 1993, p. 3A


68. Wilkinson, Jennifer. "Union Kills Election at Eagle Window," ''Telegraph Herald'', April 23, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980423&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
27. "Bell Atlantic, TCI to Merge," ''Telegraph Herald'', October 13, 1993, p. 1


69. "PBGC Assumes Pension Plan of Dubuque Packing Co.," Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation," Online: http://www.pbgc.gov/news/press/releases/pr10-28.html
28. Bergstrom, Kathy. "TCI Announces Digital Service," ''Telegraph Herald'', January 9, 1998, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980109&printsec=frontpage&hl=en


70. Ibid.
29. Wilkinson, Jennifer. "McLeod Ponders Cable TV Service," ''Telegraph Herald'', March 21, 1998, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980321&printsec=frontpage&hl=en


71. Ibid.


72. Ibid.




[[Category: Events]]
[[Category: Industry]]
[[Category: Unions]]
[[Category: Media]]
[[Category: Kendall C. Day Family Collection]]
[[Category: Firsts]]

Latest revision as of 03:49, 20 December 2021

Photo courtesy: Jim Lang

TELEVISION. Dubuque's hilly terrain made it a prime candidate for cable television in the early years of the industry. In 1991 cable television had gained 93 percent of the households with television as subscribers. This compared with a national average of 59 percent.

Rotor used to rotate a television antenna from within a house.

The top news story of 1950 was the bringing of "piped-in" television to Dubuque. Don Ameche's sons attended school in Dubuque when the co-axial cable was introduced. According to the Pittsburg-Press, Don worked better knowing his sons could watch him working "live" on television. (1) Jerrold, Philadelphia-based company, applied on May 24 for a franchise to provide cable television to the city. Four days later two Dubuque television dealers also filed. An impartial study of the two companies was made by Town and Hughes, two Iowa State College engineers. The city council rejected the engineers' recommendation of Jerrold and called a franchise election for Dubuque Community, the local firm, on September 13th. The Jerrold group countered with a petition and won a right for a franchise election on October 11th. A fight was waged in newspaper advertisements and over the radio with a debate held in the Eagles Hall. Dubuque voters went more than four to one against Dubuque Community in the first election. In the second election, the vote was 4,560 to 1,057 approving the franchise for Jerrold. (2)

Dubuque-Jerrold, a subsidiary of a Philadelphia company, was granted the first franchise in the largest turnout of voters in any recent city election at the time. This company had been in competition with a local corporation-the Dubuque Community TV cable company--which had been endorsed by the city council. The first subscriber was hooked up to the system of five television stations in May 1955. It was found that as a direct result of the street system, a radial web with the center at 1043 Main Street would reduce the number of amplifiers needed. (3) Miles of coaxial cable were strung on existing power poles to connect the main office at 1043 Main which housed the electronics equipment needed to convert and distribute the TV signal to a 421-foot tower in St. Catherine, Iowa. (4) The city was divided into six areas for service. It was expected that Area One from Dodge Street to 18th street and between Bluff and the river would take five weeks for completion. (5)

Viewers in Area I were able to enjoy cable television on May 9, 1955. They had their choice of five "snow-free" stations. There were two CBS channels (WMT-2 and WHBF-4); two NBC channels (WOC-6 and KWWL-7) and two ABC channels (KCRG-9 and WREX-13). (6) More than sixty miles of cable had to be strung and approximately fifty amplifiers had to be installed to make that evening possible. Mounted on the tower near St. Catherine were five specially constructed antennas used to capture the five different frequencies transported on the system. Channel Two broadcast from Cedar Rapids was picked up on an antenna about seventy-five feet above the ground. Channel 9, the weakest of the signals picked up, was captured by an antenna near the tower's peak. It was thought possible that an extension on the tower would allow signals to be received from Chicago. Getting the signal throughout the city required poles which were shared by INTERSTATE POWER COMPANY and Northwestern Bell Telephone. In some cases the other companies had to move their lines to keep the TV cables at legal distances from other lines. There were also instances when poles had to be replaced. Even with the first cable television available, engineers for Jerrod were solving problems of interference from other signals. (7)

In 1963 MEDELCO completed the installation of cable-powered television in all three Dubuque hospitals. Families with patients in the hospital could ask the hospital office staff to have to have a cable-powered television installed in the room with no deposit, minimum time contract and "reasonable rates." (8) On November 5, 1963 local residents were asked to vote on Franchise Ordinance No. 25-63, as enacted by the city council on September 16, 1963. Viewers with the cable television could watch ABC, CBS, NBC and WGN Chicago television which offered Family Classics as a regular Friday night feature. There was also 24-hours of the "world's great music over crustal-clear FM stations, and thrilling FM stereo broadcasts." (9)

On December 29, 1968 Dubuque television viewers experienced the first citywide breakdown since 1954 when cable came to Dubuque. According to Dubuque TV-FM Cable Company authorities the cable contracted in extremely cold weather. That evening the sudden drop in temperature caused the wires to contract so rapidly that a splice in the line pulled apart. Workers were out until midnight attempting to find the break, but quit due to the cold (-17 degrees). They resumed in the morning and discovered the break about 8:30 a.m. (10)

In 1969, WNIC-TV went on the air in the Dubuque as the city's only private television station. It was named after its owner and producer, 13-year old Nicholas SCHRUP III. Schrup earned the money for the equipment by selling coffee grinders door to door. He operated the station out of the basement of his home at 330 Wartburg Place.

In 1971 the Federal Communication Commission announced its intent to require cable television to make channels available for public use as early as March 1, 1972. While this might have surprised others, Robert Loos, general manager of the Dubuque TV-FM Cable Company and local public and parochial school administrators had been discussing such a possibility. While greatly interested in the concept, administrators were concerned that school systems did not have the money for expensive equipment. Loos noted that the cable company were not demanding that broadcasts for educational enrichment be on professional quality. The FCC was also interested in providing channels of municipal use and one for use by the general public. Locally, this was a problem because the cable system was only a 12-channel system while other had a capacity for twenty channels. (11)

In 1976 Dubuque was one of the first cities in the country to offer Home Box Office access. The same year the cable company constructed the first satellite receiving station in Iowa. Showtime replaced HBO in 1979. When the system was rebuilt in 1981 to accommodate thirty-five channels it was considered state-of-the-art television technology. In 1988, fifty-one channels were available.

The early history of cable television in Dubuque was marked by buyouts and mergers that resulted in new owners for the Dubuque franchise. These changes in ownership were given relatively little attention in comparison with procedures in place in 1991. Regional or local companies that furnished cable service to Dubuque have included H&B Communications and Dubuque TV-FM Cable. Teleprompter, the first national multiple system owner, took over the Dubuque franchise in 1972. Westinghouse bought Teleprompter and renamed it Group W in 1981.

In 1986, when Westinghouse decided to sell off its cable division, Group W was the third largest cable television operation in the nation. Too large for any one company to purchase the entire operation, Group W was purchased by a group of five companies which then divided the company into separate territories. Tele-Communications, Inc., better known as TCI Cable Company, announced its plans to acquire the rights in 1986 and completed the process in June 1987.

Group W provided a basic thirty channels, five premium pay services, and COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAMMING with studios and equipment considered to be some of nation's finest. By September 1988,fifty-one channels were available to Dubuque viewers with a planned sixty-four channels to be available by September 1991.

"Cable television pirates" were pursued by TeleprompTer TV-FM Cable Company in 1981. The problem was not new. In August, 1977 a special amnesty program by Dubuque's Teleprompter Cable resulted in 203 residents confessing to pirating cable service. (12) In 1981, six or seven independent operators advertised by word-of-mouth that they would connect homes to cable for a one-time-charge and no monthly bills. A reward of $100 was offered for the arrest and conviction of anyone found involved in such a business. "Stealing" cable signals was just as illegal as other types of theft. At the time, Teleprompter was getting $7.25 per month for basic service and $9.95 for the Showtime movie and entertainment service beyond the cost of the initial installation. (13)

In 1981 the authority to regulate basic cable rates was written into the Dubuque cable franchise. In 1984, Congress, however, passed the Cable Communication Act which pre-empted rate regulation and major provisions of local franchises across the United States. Since that date, Dubuque gained a national reputation for its fight to maintain local rate regulatory power. In July 1990 the Federal Communications Commission ruled TCI Cablevision, the city's cable operator, had no effective local market competition and therefore restored limited basic rate regulation authority to the city. (14) This special provision to cable television regulation was known as the "Tauke Amendment" because it was first promoted by U. S. Representative Thomas TAUKE. (15)

By 1991 the cable television industry in Dubuque was monitored by two commissions. The Cable Television Regulatory Commission, comprised of five citizen members, had the responsibility of franchise enforcement and settling disputes. The Cable Community Teleprogramming Commission, made up of nine members, had the responsibility to oversee the general policy and performance of the educational and public access channels.

The Regulatory Commission responded in 1991 to a proposed TCI billing promotion which also drew the attention of the Iowa Attorney General's office. TCI subscribers were given a free month of a premium movie channel called Encore to its system nationwide on June 3. If, at the end of the month, a subscriber chose not to continue receiving the channel a TCI technician would have to come to the residence and manually disconnect the channel at no charge. If they did not call, the consumer would be then be automatically billed for the new service. (16)

In response to the confusing "negative-option" marketing to get subscribers into taking Encore, the Regulatory Commission recommended that the city council enact an ordinance prohibiting the technique. Further, the commission recommended that the council use franchise fee money for "any legal avenues" to protect Dubuque consumers from this technique. (17) A TCI plan to allow customers to deduct the payment from their cable bill rather than calling for disconnection did not satisfy customers or the city council. (18) Acting to end legal issues around the nation, TCI dropped its controversial billing plan in June 1991 and made Encore an optional channel which customers would need to order to receive. (19)

Dubuque's only television station, KDUB, was founded by the Dubuque Communication Corporation in 1970. KDUB was originally based in an office building just south of Dubuque, near Key West, Iowa. The station eventually moved into offices on the ninth floor of the former ROSHEK'S DEPARTMENT STORE and later to 744 Main Street. The station went off the air from 1974 to 1976 because Dubuque Communication Corporation was unable to find a buyer for the financially troubled station.

In 1976 KDUB was sold to the Lloyd Hearing Aid Corporation of Rockford, Illinois, for $35,000. The station operation was moved to the ninth floor of the DUBUQUE BUILDING. In 1979 the station was purchased for $1.5 million by Birney Imes, Jr., who added it to a group of three other stations he owned. Imes sold KDUB in 1985 to Thomas Bond and six Alabama-based limited partners using the corporate name of Dubuque TV Ltd. for $3.25 million. Bond, formerly a television news anchorman, had been employed as the manager of an Imes television station in Columbus, Mississippi.

In May 1986, Group W Cable announced that it would continue network non-duplication protection for KDUB. By blocking the signal whenever identical network programming was being shown from KCRG, a rival ABC affiliate broadcasting from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Group W protected advertising revenue of the local station. This protection had been mandated until January of 1986 by an order from the Federal Communications Commission.

In December 1987 the sale was announced of KDUB for $4 million to Sage Broadcasting Corporation. Plans were made to expand local news, special programming, and sports in addition to upgrading the station's technical facilities.

In May 1988, TCI Cablevision of Dubuque announced that it would end the non-duplication protection on April 1st, but that it would also move KCRG to Channel 26. This left KDUB as the only ABC affiliate on the low-numbered cable channels. KDUB had previously lost the non-duplication protection from October 1980, through November 1981. At that time the station announced that it had suffered a loss of $100,000 in advertising revenue.

Sale of the Dubuque station, however, was stopped after KCRG filed two petitions with the Federal Communications Commission stating that Dubuque Television Partnership was unfit to hold the license. In January 1988, KCRG charged that KDUB with TCI Cablevision of Dubuque had conspired to limit KCRG's access to the Dubuque market by using the blackout of KCRG's signal. When the FCC approved the license transfer on January 19, 1989, KCRG filed an application for review.

On March 17, 1989, the FCC approved the sale of KDUB. The next day, despite the favorable ruling from the FCC, it was announced the Dubuque station would not be sold; stating the delays in the FCC ruling had caused Sage Broadcasting to withdraw its offer. On April 10, 1990, KDUB sued KCRG in a $4 million lawsuit alleging that KCRG management had intentionally delayed the sale of the station, leading to the offer being withdrawn. The suit further stated that KCRG had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase KDUB in August 1987, for $2.4 million.

744 Main Street in 2010

In 1995, the KDUB entered into a management agreement with Second Generation of Iowa, owner of Cedar Rapids Fox affiliate KFXA (Channel 28). It was decided to discontinue the ABC affiliation and convert KDUB to a semi-satellite of KFXA, under the call letters KFXB; most programming was simulcast from KFXA, but KFXB would continue its news operation (at that time, KFXA had no newscast at all). Prior to this, the Fox network feed was re-transmitted on the Dubuque cable system on Channel 13. After a few years, it was decided to close down the Dubuque news operation. This made KFXB a full satellite of KFXA. During this time the stations identified themselves as "KFXA-KFXB Fox 28/40."

Limited choice for viewers in Dubuque was a problem for many years. In 1983 Group W tried an experimental pay-per-view broadcast of a WBA junior welterweight championship rematch. Group W needed to sell an estimated 750 converter units at $19.95 to make a profit. It sold only fifty. The memory of the experience lasted and in 1991 TCI officials were still doubting enough interest existed in Dubuque for the service. Those who wanted to see main events broadcast from Las Vegas needed to pay $20 per person and go to FIVE FLAGS CIVIC CENTER where broadcasts could be seen on a large screen television. (20)

TCI Cablevision officials announced in April 1991 that they had signed an agreement by which TCI cable would become a Fox Network affiliate. The FOX NET system would supply affiliates with an 18-hour-per-day program including Fox primetime programming, Fox Children's Network, and additional programming from the Fox film and television library. TCI would pay Fox a monthly per-scriber fee. TCI would have to rearrange its channels to include the new channel in its current 47-channel basic service. One over-the-air broadcast station, KOCR-TV of Cedar Rapids, carried Fox programming and had installed a low-power transmitter to air its signal on UHF channel 51 to Dubuque viewers. City officials, however, stated that the signal was too weak to be received by most city residents. (21) In July, 1991 KOCR-TV was "unplugged" due to its failure to pay rent. (22)

The TCI expanded programming debuted on October 1, 1991. Subscribers were able to access home shopping networks, foreign movies, religious programming and more music videos. The new line-up offered sixty channel basic service. (23) That franchise agreement, however, came back to negatively affect Dubuque residents. Beginning in early April, 1993, Dubuque cable subscribers faced a channel realignment affecting 36 channels. The realignment resulted from TCI grouping together certain channels to make it easier to market. Nationwide, TCI was planning to offer a basic level cable service for $10 per month that would include local broadcast stations and public-access channels. An additional charge would be made to include advertiser-supported cable networks like CNN and ESPN. Since the Dubuque franchise called for sixty channels in a basic package, residents in the city did not qualify for the $10 charge. (24) In 1993 a nationwide 10% cut in basic cable costs did not benefit Dubuque subscribers either. (25)

Subscribers wanting to see movies without going to the video store could begin receiving them over TCI cable on June 16, 1993. Pay-per-view movies, which could be ordered from home, cost $3.99 each. A special converter was needed which was already available to users who received premium channels like HBO or Cinemax. Converters could also be rented for $4.95 per month. This fee could be avoided if two movies were ordered each month. (26)

In a move that surprised communications watchers who felt that cable television and telephone companies would be competitors, Bell Atlantic announced on October 13, 1993 that it would buy TCI. Regulatory changes, however, allowed the two to become allies. (27)

Beginning on January 1, 1998 cable subscribers in Dubuque, Asbury, Sageville and most of rural Dubuque County could subscribe to TCI Cable. For $13.30 per month, customers could receive up to 36 more video channels. Customers who subscribed to the premium movie services also received additional channels. Due to TCI's use of digital compression technology more channels could be squeezed into a broad-band cable. The service was carried through existing cable into the home where it was converted by a digital compression terminal that sat on the television set. Customers did not need a digital television set to receive digital cable. TCI Digital Cable customers would continue to receive local networks and independent stations. Installation cost $12.50 including a phone line. (28)

In March, 1998 voters in Dubuque approved giving McLeod-USA the chance to offer cable television in competition with TCI. McLeod had been offering local telephone service to Dubuque customers since July 1997. (29)

In 2004, KFXB's owners, Dubuque TV Limited Partnership sold the station to the Christian Television Network, who switched the station to its primarily-religious programming. Fox programming continued to be transmitted on KFXA - which operated as the primary Fox affiliate for northeast Iowa. At this time KFXB lost its longstanding Channel 4 assignment on the Dubuque cable system to KFXA, with KFXB being moved to channel 14.

KFXB added cable coverage of the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas on Mediacom cable in 2005.

---

Source:

1. Steinhauser, Si. "Originals to Be Heard, Not Seen," Pittsburgh Press, December 13, 1950, p. 10. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19501213&id=sXgbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ak0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2912,6710013&hl=en

2. "Television Cable Argument Rated Top Dubuque News Story of Year," Telegraph Herald, January 2, 1955 Dubuque News, p. 1

3. Talbott, Douglas. "Topography of City Teachers Useful Lesson, The Telegraph-Herald, May 8, 1955, p. 8

4. "TV Cable Stringing Expected to Start This Week; Areas Named," Telegraph Herald, January 16, 1955, Dubuque News, p. 1

5. Ibid.

6. "Dubuque in the 1950s," Dubuque by the Decades, Telegraph Herald, July, 2020, p. 22

7. "Area I Subscribers Will Enjoy Cable TV Monday," Telegraph Herald, May 8, 1955, p. 14

8. Advertisement, Telegraph-Herald, May 5, 1963, p. 20

9. Advertisement, Telegraph-Herald, November 4, 1963, p. 5

10. "Cable TV Knocked Out," Telegraph-Herald, December 30, 1968, p. 1

11. Babcock, Susan, "CATV and School," Telegraph Herald, September 27, 1971, p. 6

12. Day, Mike, "Research Reveals Odd Occurrences in Late '70s," Telegraph Herald, December 19, 2021, p. 10A

13. Hogstrom, Erik, "1981: Cable Provider Takes Aim at Piracy," Telegraph Herald, Dec. 10, 2021, p. 6A

14. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Cable Battle Refought Nationally," Telegraph Herald, June 13, 1991, p. 1

15. Webber, Steve. "Cable Bill with Dubuque Provision Survives Round," Telegraph Herald, June 17, 1992, p. 3A

16. Arnold, Bill."Cable Bill Procedure Probed," Telegraph Herald, May 15, 1991, p. 1

17. Arnold, Bill. "Panel: Ban TCI Billing Plan," Telegraph Herald, May 29, 1991

18. Gilson, Donna. "TCI Backs Down on Encore Channel," Telegraph Herald, June 11, 1991, p. 1

19. "TCI to Handle 'Encore' as Optional Channel," Telegraph Herald, June 14, 1991, p. 3A

20. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Official: Not Enough Interest in Trying Pay-Per-View Service," Telegraph Herald, March 18, 1991, p. 3A

21. Arnold, Bill. "Fox Network Signs With TCI," Telegraph Herald, April 2, 1991, p. 3A

22. Arnold, Bill. "KOCR's Plug Pulled; Failure to Pay Rent Cited," Telegraph Herald, July 4, 1991, p. 3A

23. Dickel, Dean. "Channels to Debut October 1, 1991," Telegraph Herald, September 7, 1991, p. 1

24. Arnold, Bill. "TCI Cablevision to Adjust Basic Service," Telegraph Herald, January 14, 1993, p. 3A

25. Arnold, Bill. "Cable Ruling Won't Affect Dubuque," Telegraph Herald, April 2, 1993, p. 3A

26. Eiler, Donnelle. "TCI Begins Pay-Per-View Movie Service," Telegraph Herald, June 16, 1993, p. 3A

27. "Bell Atlantic, TCI to Merge," Telegraph Herald, October 13, 1993, p. 1

28. Bergstrom, Kathy. "TCI Announces Digital Service," Telegraph Herald, January 9, 1998, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980109&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

29. Wilkinson, Jennifer. "McLeod Ponders Cable TV Service," Telegraph Herald, March 21, 1998, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980321&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

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