FCC Denies Retransmission Complaint Against Sinclair

FCC DENIES RETRANSMISSION COMPLAINT AGAINST SINCLAIR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The FCC has denied a retransmission consent complaint against Sinclair by cable operator Mediacom, setting up the possibility that some 700,000-800,000 cable subs could lose access to TV station signals starting Friday, Jan. 5, on the eve of the NFL playoffs. The two biggest markets involved are Des Moines and Cedar Rapids Iowa, where Mediacom is the dominant cable player and Sinclair has Fox and CBS stations that will be carrying both NFL playoffs and the college championship game over the next week. Mediacom had argued that Sinclair was not bargaining in good faith over carriage of 22 of its TV station signals in markets where MediaCom has cable systems. The stations include 13 affiliates of the major networks and nine stations either CW affiliates or currently unaffiliated. Sinclair told Mediacom Sept. 28 it was terminating carriage Dec. 1, 2006, over their failure to agree to a price for the stations, but that date was pushed to January 5 through private negotiations. Sinclair wants something comparable to what MediaCom pays for cable nets with ratings similar to those of its TV stations. The FCC said Thursday that it would like the two sides to submit to arbitration by its Media Bureau, and if they agreed would require Sinclair to allow MediaCom to carry the stations while the Media Bureau was resolving the issue. It was only a suggestion by he FCC, but a forceful one.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404369.html?display=Breaking...

* FCC Shoots Down Mediacom
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6404371.html?display=Breaking+News

* FCC Rules in Sinclair's Favor in Mediacom Retrans Spat
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10035...