A State Senator’s Fight Brings WFSB Back To Optimum

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RBR + TVBR INFOCUS


Until about 1pm Friday (3/17) there was a whole new definition for “March Madness” in a large portion of Connecticut that doesn’t involve Duke, Villanova, or a 6-9, 185-pound Arizona Wildcats Center named Chance Comanche.

That’s because subscribers to Altice USA‘s Optimum had been without their local CBS affiliate, Meredith Corp.-owned WFSB-3 in Hartford, since Jan. 13. With no sign of an accord after more than eight weeks, Democratic State Sen. Gayle Slossberg stepped up her fight to play peacemaker by pleading for mediation between the two parties.

She gave Optimum and Meredith until the end of the day before next steps would be taken by Slossberg, who tells RBR + TVBR that a call to the Attorney General’s office was made this morning and that new communication with the FCC was set to start.

That won’t happen now: As of 1:30pm Eastern WFSB-3 returned to Optimum’s lineup in Litchfield and New Haven Counties.

“I haven’t watched Madame Secretary for weeks,” Slossberg says of the eight-week impasse that served as the latest chapter in an ugly relationship between Meredith and Optimum that dates back to the MVPD’s predecessor — the Dolan Family’s Cablevision.

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