Another Extension for Comcast, Sinclair
March 10 the New D-Day for Retransmission-Consent Talks
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 3/1/2007 1:53:00 PM
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pulled its TV stations from Mediacom Communications in January, and Comcast agreed to another extension in their retransmission-consent talks, through March 10, avoiding the loss of the broadcaster's stations on the cable operator's systems as of 5 a.m. Thursday.
If Sinclair is unable to reach a new deal with the nation’s largest cable operator, it would be yanking signals for more than 30 stations in 23 markets. Some 3.4 million Comcast subscribers would be affected.
The two parties' first extension of their retransmission-consent deal, for analog and digital signals was set to expire at 5 a.m. Thursday.
Sinclair officials couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday, but the TV-station owner did talk to AP.
“It’s important for people to know that there’s a chance they could wake up [Thursday] morning and the station might not be there anymore,” Sinclair general counsel Barry Faber told AP.
"Our first goal is to protect our customers from being charged extra for free TV,” Comcast said in a prepared statement. “We continue to talk with Sinclair and will continue to offer Sinclair's broadcast stations unless they demand that those stations be removed."
Sinclair is seeking cash from cable companies in exchange for carriage of its TV stations, and Comcast has said it won’t fork over such payments.
Mediacom reached a new retransmission-consent agreement with Sinclair Feb. 2, in which it will pay cash. The cable operator then regained carriage of nearly two-dozen Sinclair stations.
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