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Retrans wars


T.L. Hughes

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In the past few years, there has been an increased instance of station groups engaging in disputes with pay TV providers over retransmission consent compensation :punch:, leaving customers in the lurch as their favorite channels get blacked out. Given that this site discusses these kind of things often, we might as well create a (semi-)regular topic out of it.

 

Local TV LLC vs. DirecTV

 

Local TV LLC, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, is the latest to enter into a retrans scuffle with a pay television provider. Their current carriage agreement ends on September 1. The group has set up websites for virtually all of its stations, warning viewers about the dispute (even though this is an issue with its owner and not any of the stations individually). Ironically, Local TV's sister company Tribune Broadcasting (which is involved in a broadcast management agreement with Local TV, and as of this writing is still wrangled in a dispute with Cablevision that has removed WPIX from its New York City area systems, WPHL/Philadelphia from New Jersey systems located near the Philly market, WTIC-WCCT/Hartford from its Connecticut systems and KWGN/Denver from its Optimum West system in Colorado) got into a relatively short-lived dispute with DirecTV back in April that resulted in all 23 of its stations and WGN America being pulled. The dispute affects certain markets where Sinclair Broadcast Group narrowly avoided having its stations pulled last month from competing satellite provider Dish Network (including Oklahoma City, Hampton Roads, St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Des Moines). Since Tribune owns CW affiliates KWGN/Denver and KPLR/St. Louis (which are operated alongside affected Local TV-owned Fox stations KDVR and KTVI) and handles retrans negotiations separately from Local TV, they will remain on DirecTV in those two markets.

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