A television group and a cable operator have reached an impasse in retransmission consent negotiations, and as a result Media General stations are currently available on Mediacom cable systems.
Both companies reached out to viewers.
According to Mediacom, the following stations and markets are affected:
KWQC-NBC (Davenport, IA/Rock Island-Moline, IL), KIMT-CBS/MNT (Mason City, IA), KELO-CBS/MNT (Sioux Falls, SD), WANE-CBS (Fort Wayne, IN), WAVY-NBC and WVBT-FOX (Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA), WTHI-CBS/FOX (Terre Haute, IN), WKRN-ABC (Nashville, TN), KSNT-NBC and KTMJ-FOX (Topeka, KS), KSNW-NBC (Wichita-Hutchison, KS), WIAT-CBS (Birmingham, AL), WOTV-ABC and WOOD-NBC (Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI), WBAY-ABC (Green Bay-Appleton, WI), WFNA-CW (Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL) and KRON-CW (San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA).
Media General’s KWQC in Quad Cities explained that the last contract expired 7/14/15 at 4PM Central time.
“Please know that we have tried hard to reach an agreement with Mediacom, so that our viewers would not have to miss any of our around-the-clock reporting of news, traffic, weather emergencies, public service announcements, and favorite local and national programming. We are disappointed in the outcome of our negotiations, especially since we have successfully reached deals with every major cable, satellite and telecommunications company that recognizes our fair market value. Without fair and equitable treatment, local TV stations will not be able to continue to provide top quality news, sports, entertainment, and other local programming that is most important to you.”
Mediacom said it’s the second time it’s run into a standoff with Media General and claimed that MG and predecessors which sold stations to MG have blacked out 75 stations all told since 2008.
Mediacom said in a letter to subscribers, “We engage in these types of negotiations all the time, and have completed more than 100 deals in the last few years alone. The negotiations with Media General were different. In order to get a new 3-year deal, Media General was adamant that Mediacom pay more than twice the price we paid them for the prior 3 years. Not only was Media General demanding more than double the money, the price they set for KWQC was significantly more than any other broadcast station we carry. If we agreed to Media General’s demands, KWQC would have become the most expensive broadcast channel in all of the 1,500 communities that Mediacom serves across 22 states. Further, other broadcasters would follow and begin demanding to be paid the same as Media General, driving up costs for other channels on your lineup.”
RBR+TVBR observation: We would like to point out one of the more oddball arguments being deployed by cable interests.
This is the first comment from Mediacom in a press release sent to RBR+TVBR:
“Media General timed the blackout so it occurred just ahead of the MLB All Star game on FOX. There are 3 markets where a FOX station is impacted.”
Seriously? That’s the lead argument?
Then Media General has some serious fortune-telling powers. Clearly, the current blackout was triggered by the expiration of the retransmission consent contract. Media General didn’t own these stations when the contract was signed, nor do they have the power to schedule the game. So there is no way on this earth they could have “timed” the blackout to deprive viewers in 21.4% of the affected markets of access to the All Star game.
