KTUU, GCI Reach Agreement

Jay Barrett/KMXT
Fans of TV weather forecaster Jackie Purcell on KTUU will be pleased to know that she, along with other news and programming, has been returned to GCI cable customers in rural Alaska after a three-month blackout.
The KTUU programming returned Thursday morning, just in time for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. NBC is the exclusive American broadcaster for the winter games, and an extended delay would have left many without coverage.
The announcement came at 11 a.m. that the two media giants had ended their dispute, which started on November 7th when GCI blacked out KTUU in much of rural Alaska. In addition to Kodiak, the communities with service restored include Barrow, Bethel, Cordova, Kotzebue, Kuparuk, Nome, Deadhorse and Valdez.
Paul Landes, GCI general manager, thanked customers in rural Alaska for their patience, while KTUU’s GM, Andy MacLeod, said he was glad Alaskans will be able to see coverage of the Olympics including in-depth coverage of Alaskan athletes.