Reports have been flooding in from across Ohio, Indiana and Texas to confirm the cold, hard truth: LIN TV has begun removing its stations from Time Warner Cable systems. Last month, we found that the two were still in disagreement over carriage terms, with LIN TV wanting TWC to pony up to carry stations that could otherwise be fetched OTA for free. Amazingly, they let the October 2nd deadline come and go without even a stopgap deal, meaning that some locals in Dayton, Columbus, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Austin, Green Bay, Buffalo and a handful of other cities have now vanished from TWC's EPG. In a posting made on the carrier's site, it bluntly states that LIN TV is "trying to make up for lower ratings and advertising revenue by adding fees that will fall, ultimately, on the backs of our cable customers." Granted, that's only one half of the story, but here's the bottom line: you two need to come to terms, and fast.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

While we singled out TWC's spat with Dayton's own WDTN, the issue spreads much, much further. As of now, 15 LIN TV-owned stations are at risk of falling off of Time Warner Cable if the two can't reach an agreement before October 2nd. Since July of this year, LIN TV has attempted to extract a presumably large amount of cash from the carrier in order to seal the deal on a long-term agreement for both analog and high-def signals. As of now, local stations in Austin, Buffalo, Columbus, Dayton, Ft. Wayne, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Mobile, Springfield (MA), Terre Haute and Toledo are at risk, but we have a pretty good feeling that the two will eventually work it out. 'Course, TWC won't enjoy paying through the nose in order to do so, but hey, that's life. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

As our eagle-eyed tipster Doug so eloquently put it, we too aren't sure how this one got overlooked. In the midst of LIN TV hammering out deals with DirecTV, Charter, SuddenLink and DISH Network, this particular deal managed to slip through the cracks. Nevertheless, the media company has indeed entered into an agreement with Comcast to keep locals in 15 markets on the air. For specifics on which markets we're referring to, check out the second paragraph in the read link.

[Thanks, Doug]

Charter customers in 11 LIN TV-owned markets can breathe a sigh of relief, the cable company and broadcaster have reached an agreement in principle that should allow them to continue to carry the stations' programming. Check the original post for the affected areas, however since your TV stations won't be going dark June 30, there's no real hurry. Always great when an agreement can be reached and no one has to miss even a second of that sweet, sweet HDTV.

Whoa, that was speedy. Just hours after the retransmission agreement between LIN TV and DirecTV was made public, hordes of subscribers are jumping for joy. Why all the leaping, you ask? Because many of the channels in the pact are already airing in gorgeous HD around the country. Flip on your tele and let us know if you're so lucky.

[Thanks, Rob]

LIN TV sure does take these retransmission agreements seriously, and while it seems that things aren't going so great between it and Charter, all is well with DirecTV. The recent agreement covers television stations "owned and / or operated by LIN TV in 15 markets," including networks in Albuquerque, Austin, Buffalo, Dayton, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Springfield, Providence, Norfolk, Toledo, Mobile, Hartford-New Haven and Ft. Wayne. Of course, we never really heard that there was any discord between these two parties in particular, but it's good to see all systems are go at least for the foreseeable future.

Prepare for another round of affiliate owner/cable network squabbles, as LIN TV has announced negotiations with Charter Communications "appear unlikely" to result in a retrans agreement, and that cable customers in Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Hartford-New Haven, Springfield (Mass), Dayton, Providence and Toledo can expect affected stations to be pulled from the lineup when the current agreement expires June 30. Of course LIN TV is taking the opportunity to educate customers about DISH Network where the stations are available courtesy of their recent agreement. Check after the break for a list of potentially affected stations while we hope for an 11th hour reprieve, although with the two sides at odds over what "fair market value" of digital signal is, we're not confident this will turn out any better than the 4 month break Suddenlink customers experienced earlier this year. (Warning: PDF read link.)

New Years Day was a sad one for cable customers served by Suddenlink and LIN TV, when their previous retransmission consent agreement expired, KXAN-TV (NBC) in Austin and KBIM-TV (CBS) in Albuquerque went dark. Three months later, they've come to terms and restored the channels to 30,000 affected customers. No word on what it took, but LIN TV claims all subscription services have to recognize "fair market value" of its stations. (Warning: PDF read link.)

LIN TV has been involved in squabbles over retransmitting of its signal with cable and satellite stations recently, but today its reached an agreement with DISH Network for both the SD and HD signal, as well as marketing and promotions to advertise the availability of HD locals via satellite in areas where they've been yanked from cable (hello, KXAN-TV in Austin). The two will also jointly "educate" customers about the digital transition and push Dish's digital converter box. Check after the break for a list of cities affected, with a deal like this in its pocket, we don't see LIN TV having a reason to reach out to the local cable co any time soon.