Sinclair & Time Warner make a deal on HD, Mediacom still on the outs
Sinclair and Time Warner have finally reached an agreement that will let the cable provider broadcast HDTV signals from Sinclair-owned affiliate stations. We've been getting reports from HDTV owners in Ohio, Wisconsin and other areas that Sinclair owned stations are showing up in all their HD glory -- too late for the BCS National Championship and last year's Super Bowl -- but better late than never. Still ongoing is the broadcaster's Iowa-centered battle with Mediacom, where affected stations have been dropped entirely from the cable lineup pending an agreement between the two companies. After coming to a "mutually acceptable economic agreement" four year agreement with TW, we'll see if Sinclair and Mediacom work things out, the FCC gets involved, or if this tiff continues to drag on interminably.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - High-def versions of Channels 18 and 24 finally coming to cable
Read - Sinclair Announces Analog and Digital Carraige Agreement with Time Warner Cable
Read - Lawmakers tell Mediacom, Sinclair to settle
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark @ Jan 26th 2007 6:22PM
Now if Time Warner Green Bay would iron out things with Lin Television (FOX), Acme Communications (CW) and Journal Communications (MyNet), I'd be in business.
In the meantime, back to futzing around with antennas...
mike c. @ Jan 27th 2007 9:19PM
Well my couple hundred dollar antenna solution was good for about a month. I guess there's always the 3 independent hd channels that only broadcast over the air....
Carter Cathey @ Feb 17th 2007 2:48AM
As a viewer, the central part of this issue is clearly the availability and ease of access to local channels. For local television stations, this is a real departure from accepted business practice. And, with all the new ways that content can be amalgamated and distributed through new devices, this sets a precedent on the relationship between content creators and those that wish to bundle and resell.
All my other issues with Sinclair Broadcast Group aside, I applaud the effort they have done on behalf of smaller broadcasters with considerably less leverage.
I found your article during a search on this topic. I produce a blog called In the Business of Media and recently wrote an article on the importance and history of re-transmission agreements. Links below should you like to include them for your readers.
In the Business of Media: http://cartercathey.blogspot.com/index.html
Broadcast / Cable Re-Transmission Agreements: Why Should We Care?: http://cartercathey.blogspot.com/2007/02/broadcast-cable-re-transmission.html
Thanks, Carter Cathey