Time Warner tells of arrangement to bypass local affiliate if retransmission dispute goes on

Time Warner Cable is telling local subscribers in Buffalo (NY) it will continue to carry Fox network programs into January 2011 and beyond, even if its deal with the owner of WUTV, the local Fox affiliate, expires and the station is dropped from the local cable system.

WUTV, owned by Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group, could disappear from the Time Warner lineup Jan. 1 if no deal is reach to extend the agreement that allows the cable company to carry the channel. But local Time Warner officials said that they have an arrangement that will allow the cable system to continue carrying Fox's national programming, such as "American Idol," "Glee" and "House," even if WUTV is dropped from its programming lineup. It also would allow Time Warner subscribers to watch the Super Bowl, which Fox will air in early February. Language in the deal that Time Warner struck last January with Fox Broadcasting allows the cable company to carry Fox network programming for up to a year in markets where the local Fox affiliate is pulled from the lineup.