Television company Sinclair Broadcast Group and Time Warner Cable have been haggling over a new contract for broadcast retransmission fees since the beginning of the year. But about half way through January they said they had an agreement in principal and extended the haggling period until 2/21/11. They now have a deal, beating the new deadline by almost three weeks.
As is standard operating procedure in such matters, terms were not released, other than the announcement that the new agreement is a multiyear pact. It is good for 28 stations in 17 markets.
Sinclair listed the stations in its portfolio covered in the contract, which include WLFL & WRDC (Raleigh, NC), WCGV & WVTV (Milwaukee, WI), KABB & KMYS (San Antonio, TX), WSYX & WTTE (Columbus, OH), WSTR (Cincinnati, OH), WUTV & WNYO (Buffalo, NY), WSYT & WNYS (Syracuse, NY), WXLV & WMYV (Greensboro, NC), WRGT & WKEF (Dayton, OH), WGME (Portland, ME), WUHF (Rochester, NY), WDKY (Lexington, KY), WCHS & WVAH WPMY (Pittsburgh, PA), and KBSI (Cape Girardeau, MO).
Sinclair also announced that TWC would be producing local news reports for one of the stations – ABC WXLV-TV, in Greensboro/Winston-Salem. But don’t tune in to check out TWC’s handiwork just yet – that deal doesn’t kick in until January 2012. When it does, TWC will put together three half-hour weekday newscasts airing at 6:30 AM, 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM. TWC operates a 24/7 cable news channel for its systems in North Carolina, known as News 14 Carolina.
“We’re pleased to reach a long-term agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting without any interruption in service for our customers,” said Rob Marcus, President and COO of Time Warner Cable. “We appreciate our customers’ patience and support throughout this negotiation, and thank them for their patronage.”
