DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. — A cable TV service provider with a big footprint in Westchester County and on Long Island, in addition to smaller West Coast markets, is crying foul against a broadcast television station operator that is poised to sell all of its assets to Nexstar Media Group.
Optimum, in a statement released Thursday amid 2022 Quadrennial Ownership Rule comment filings at the FCC, said that it “forcefully rejects excessive and unjustified demands” from TEGNA.
With a retransmission consent pact in need of a refresh between the MVPD and the owner of such properties as KPNX-TV in Phoenix, Optimum asserts that TEGNA “is pursuing egregious fee increases that are divorced from market reality, including a massive 30% hike for major network affiliates and a colossal 50% increase for The CW.”
As Optimum sees it, the pricing strategy “ignores the current media landscape, where consumers demand value and flexibility, and creates a total disconnect between cost and value, underscoring how much today’s programming model remains broken and outdated.”
The company added that it “refuses to accept outlandish price increases that would only serve to inflate customers’ monthly bills and accelerate a broken cycle that punishes viewers.”
Importantly, TEGNA stations remain available as Optimum seeks a “fair agreement” with the TV station ownership group. The current deal expires on December 31.
Optimum markets across 10 states are impacted by the potential impasse.
