[opendtv] News: FCC Denies Retransmission Complaint Against Sinclair
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 09:08:11 -0500
Just in time for the NFL playoffs...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404369.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2228
FCC Denies Retransmission Complaint Against Sinclair
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/4/2007 5:21:00 PM
The FCC's Media Bureau 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.
Mediacom says it will appeal to the full commission.
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 that sounded OK with it. "Sinclair's desire to receive
appropriate compensation from Mediacom for carriage of its signals is
consistent with the framework for retransmission consent established
by Congress in Section 325 of the Communications Act and does not
appear to be unreasonable," the FCC's Media Bureau wrote in denying
the complaint.
The commission also said the evidence suggested Sinclair was asking
for prices "at or below" that of comparably rated cable nets, though
it redacted the prices.
But with cable subs now receiving those 22 stations facing the loss,
at least in terms of wired delivery, of some popular network
programming--including the upcoming NFL playoffs--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. With the
denial of the Mediacom complaint, "our formal involvement in this
dispute is ended," said the FCC. "Nevertheless, we strongly encourage
the parties to engage in hard bargaining to achieve an agreement."
Sinclair's Web site, www.sbgi.net, featured a link labeled: "Find out
why Mediacom may not be carrying Sinclair Stations after January 5,
2006," where affected viewers were encouraged--and even offered
incentives--to switch to DirecTV.
Sinclair has a deal with DirecTV that pays it for every new sub it
refers to the company.
Sinclair General Counsel Barry Faber said the company was pleased
that the FCC supported its position and would seriously consider the
request to submit to arbitration. But it has also warned Mediacom
subs--via on-screen crawls--that they may lose cable access to the
Sinclair stations and encouraging them to sign up with satellite.
"What you don't want is to have people wake up Saturday morning
expecting to see an NFL playoff game and its not just there without
any warning."
Faber said the company has been in contact with Mediacom as recently
as Thursday, but said "the parties are so far apart that I don't hold
very much hope out for reaching any kind of agreement by tomorrow."
Mediacom said it thought the FCC had gotten it wrong, but said it
favored binding arbitration. "
"We are disappointed with the Media Bureau's decision, which is
against the best interests of Mediacom customers and has far-reaching
consequences to television viewers all over America," said Mediacom
Chariamn/CEO Rocco B. Commisso in a statement. "However, we are
pleased that the Bureau strongly encouraged the parties to submit to
binding arbitration and to continue carriage of the stations. We
offered this solution to Sinclair over a month ago, but they refused.
"We are committed to binding arbitration and are hopeful Sinclair
will heed the Bureau's recommendation and avoid a disruption in
service to our customers."
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