LIN TV Reaches Retrans Deal with Verizon

LIN TV announced Wednesday that it reached an agreement with Verizon Communications for retransmission services of its 31 broadcast stations through Verizon’s FiOS TV service to consumers in LIN’s markets.

“We are pleased to be partnering with an industry leader like Verizon to offer LIN TV station viewers a rich experience and provide households with more choice and competitive pricing,” LIN CEO Vincent L. Sadusky said in a prepared statement.

LIN, based in Providence, R.I., owns and operates 31 TV stations in 18 midsized markets in the United States and Puerto Rico. The agreement grants Verizon the right to LIN TV’s locally produced content for video-on-demand and to carry both the analog and HDTV signals of all of the LIN stations in markets where Verizon provides FiOS TV service.

LIN said WAVY-TV NBC 10 and WVBT-TV Fox Channel 43 -- both serving the Norfolk, Va., market -- will be the first of its stations to air on FiOS TV.

In other Verizon news, the telco is now offering FiOS TV service in two additional towns in the Los Angeles area, Redlands and Redondo Beach.

Verizon now offers FiOS TV in more than one-dozen California communities, including Hermosa Beach, Malibu, Thousand Oaks and communities in Riverside County.

"Today, more California consumers have been given an outstanding, superior choice for their video entertainment," Tim McCallion, president of Verizon's West region, said in a prepared statement. "No longer will customers be at the mercy of a single cable-TV company."