In what has become a rarity in recent retransmission consent negotiations, Mediacom Communications said Monday that it has reached retransmission consent agreements with two broadcast station groups without having to endure a blackout period.
In a terse statement, Mediacom said it reached deals with LIN Television and Vaughan Media. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The relative congeniality of the deals is a departure from 2011, when Mediacom endured a 6-week blackout of LIN stations, mainly because the two could not agree over price. LIN owns about 43 television stations and seven digital channels in 23 markets – nine TV stations in Mediacom territory – and in March it agreed to be acquired by Media General in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion. Last month LIN agreed to divest stations in five markets to help expedite the merger, including stations included in this retrans deal – WJCL, WALA, WLUJ/WCWF and WTGS.
According to Mediacom, the LIN stations in the deal are: WALA (FOX) and WFNA (The CW) in Mobile, Ala./Pensacola, Fla.; WTHI (FOX and CBS) in Terre Haute, Ind.; WANE (CBS) in Fort Wayne, Ind.; WAVY (NBC) and WVBT (FOX) in Norfolk, Va.; WLUK (FOX) and WCWF (The CW) in Green Bay, Wis.; WOOD (NBC), WOTV (ABC) and WXSP (MyNetworkTV) in Grand Rapids, Mich.; KIMT (CBS and MyNetworkTV) in Rochester, Min./Mason City, Iowa; KSNT (NBC) and KTMJ (FOX) in Topeka, Kans.; KSNW (NBC) in Wichita, Kans.; WIAT (CBS) in Birmingham, Ala.; and WJCL in Savannah, Ga.
The Vaughan Media stations are KTKA (ABC and The CW) in Topeka, Kans. And WTGS (ABC) in Savannah, Ga.
