Cable company unable to reach agreement with Sinclair

By Jessica Richardson
Staff Writer

The final deadline passed in an ongoing battle between Mediacom cable and owner of WLOS Channel 13 Sinclair Broadcast, leaving cable customers in western N.C. counties with no local broadcast news. The two companies had been in negotiations for months but could not reach an agreement by the January 6 deadline. Sinclair agreed to extend the deadline once from Dec. 1, but no extension was made this time.

Although WLOS is available for free over the airwaves, many customers in western N.C. have trouble picking up the station. Mediacom serves customers in Jackson, Macon, Henderson and McDowell Counties. The decision potentially affected 28,000 Mediacom subscribers.

Along with local news, cable customers also lost popular programs like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost” and sports coverage.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) handed down their decision in a complaint filed by Mediacom. The FCC decided that Sinclair did not breach its obligation to negotiate with Mediacom in good faith. The FCC did, however, recommend that the companies enter into binding arbitration and continue to carry the Sinclair station until a decision was made in arbitration.

Mediacom is having the FCC’s decision reviewed by the full FCC. In a release Thursday, Rocco Commisso, Mediacom’s Chairman and CEO said, “We are disappointed with the Media Bureau’s decision, which is against the best interest of Mediacom customers and had farreaching consequences to television viewers all over America. However, we are pleased that the Bureau strongly encouraged the parties to submit to binding arbitration and continue to carry the stations. We offered this solution to Sinclair over a month ago, but they refused.”

As Maggie Blythe, Mediacom’s regional senior manager of government relations explained, “We asked for Sinclair to take the FCC’s recommendations of going into binding arbitration.”

In binding arbitration, a mediator would hear from both sides and decide what the best way to handle the situation. The mediator’s decision would be binding.

According to Blythe, Sinclair said they were unprepared to enter into arbitration. Barry Faber, Sinclair Broadcasting vice president and general counsel, was contacted several times but was unable to be reached directly.

In a conference call held by Sinclair Tuesday, Faber said that the negotionations “may continue for a long period of time.”

Faber said in the call that Sinclair intents to answer Mediacom about settling the dispute in arbitration but did not say when.

“We’re still considering it (arbitration),” Faber said. “We have reason to believe that even if we are willing to do it, the parameters under which Mediacom would be willing to do it.” Faber demonstrated the point by saying if you were selling your house, you wouldn’t want to sell it for less than you thought it was worth.

According to Mediacom, Sinclair let them carry the station in the past without any charges. They recently requested a retransmission fee that Mediacom has said is “unreasonable” and “far more than any other comparably sized cable company is paying.”

Blythe said that any additional fees that Mediacom would have to pay would “ultimately be passed onto our customers.” Blythe said that Mediacom made three new offers last week, but Sinclair did not agree to any of them.

In Sinclair’s argument, the claim was made that, based on ratings, the stations it offers are more important to the viewers and that viewers are already paying for the free station.

Both companies have reached agreements with other cable carriers or station providers. According to an article Jan. 5 in MediaWeek , Sinclair is in a retransmission agreement with Comcast with a deadline for February. The agreement could affect 30 stations and up to three million viewers.

Comcast told MediaWeek that Sinclair has asked for large cash payments that would be passed down to consumers. Comcast told the publication that they are “bracing for the worst.” Sinclair has reached agreements with AT&T, Verizon and other providers.

“We are urging viewers to contact their legislators to let them know that it is an important issue to their community,” said Blythe.

To offer viewers a solution, Mediacom is giving out free antenna kits to customers at their local offices.

Sinclair Broadcasting has encouraged viewers to switch to other providers such as Direct TV. Sinclair has said they would offer a $100 rebate for those who switch.