LIN, Charter Consent On Retransmission Pact

Deal Covers 13 Stations In Eight Markets

-- Multichannel News, 7/1/2008 3:40:00 AM

LIN TV Corp. and Charter Communications have reached a retransmission-consent deal covering the station owner’s broadcast and digital signals.

Charter carries 13 stations owned- and/or operated by LIN, whose contract with the cable operator was set to expire on June 30.

The parties had reached an agreement in principle earlier this month, Deal terms were not disclosed for the stations serving Grand Rapids, Mich.; Green Bay, Wisc.; Hartford-New Haven, Conn.; Norfolk, Va.; Springfield, Mass; Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; and Providence.

Earlier this month, LIN also reached retransmission-consent pacts with Comcast, covering 27 stations in 15 markets and with Direct TV for 23 stations in 15 markets.

“We are pleased to have signed this agreement with LIN TV for the benefit of our customers, said Ted Schremp, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Charter, in a statement. “In addition, we look forward to expanding our high definition programming with LIN TV stations in many of these communities.”

Noted LIN TV executive vice president digital media Gregory Schmidt: “We are extremely pleased to have reached a fair market agreement with Charter and we look forward to broadening and deepening this relationship as we move together into the digital future.”