An effort by DeKalb residents to add the Black Entertainment Television station to local cable programming is still on the drawing board.

The hold-up is riding on the renewal of DeKalb’s cable company contract. If Warner Cable is renewed in DeKalb, they have proposed a $2.6 million upgrade plan that would allow Warner Cable to add not only the BET channel, but also TNT (a Ted Turner station) and a classic movie channel that customers have requested.

The City of DeKalb offered DeKalb’s Warner Cable a 10-year contract upon renewal once its 15-year contract expires May 1991, said Gary Bjoden, DeKalb’s assistant city manager.

Warner does not plan to upgrade the system until they are secure that they are staying in the community, said Andy Bast, Warner Cable’s general manager.

Bast said he is sincerely interested in the vocal groups he has heard from the DeKalb community.

“My goal as a business person is to put an attractive cable package together so that everyone will appreciate it,” he said.

A petition was signed by 130 residents who wanted BET to be added to tghe basic package of stations already offered by Warner Cable. Marilyn Monteiro, NIU Affirmative Action Director, helped out at the petition table last October.

Monteiro said there are no future plans to do any further petitioning for BET.

“It is a matter of not being able to do anything until Warner is registered with DeKalb,” he said.

Bast said it is premature to discuss any plans regarding eliminating any stations or adding certain stations over others.