retrans

No, broadcasters and cable operators have not agreed that either the must-carry/retrans regime is still good law (broadcasters) or an anachronistic thumb on the competitive scale (cable), but the FCC has sought comment on a joint proposal by both those camps for updating how TV stations notify MVPDs of whether they are electing either mandatory carriage (must carry) or will try to negotiate a fee for MVPD carriage of their signals (retransmission consent), with the possibility of losing carriage if they can’t strike a deal.

The new multi-year contract covers television stations and cable net WGN America.

Panelists at TV2020 examine various scenarios for the future of this important revenue stream in light of growing competition from OTT services and increasing reverse comp demands from the networks.

Quincy Media’s NBC-Fox affiliate WGEM Quincy, Ill. (DMA 174)  are once again being carried on Dish Network after a new retransmission agreement was reached.

The National Association of Broadcasters is circulating a policy paper on Capitol Hill advocating for not renewing the STELAR law (Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act) when it expires at the end of 2019. STELAR reauthorizes the satellite compulsory distant signal license for five years. But last time around it was also a vehicle for some cable-friendly changes to retrans, including renewing the FCC’s enforcement of good faith retrans negotiations and extending the commission’s prohibition on coordinated retrans negotiations among noncommonly owned TV stations in a market from the top four to all stations.

New carriage contracts with FiOS, Atlantic Broadband and Google Fiber cover more than 3.6 million subscribers.

The owner of ABC affiliate WAOW Wausau, Wis., has blacked out the channel for Dish Network subscribers as part of a fight with the satellite television provider over its monthly rates for local channels.

The American Cable Association wants to make sure that Gray is not allowed to raise the retrans fees of stations before spinning them off to other buyers in its purchase of Raycom’s TV stations. That’s according to an ACA filing at the FCC.

Victoria Television Group’s local broadcast channels are hanging on by a thread for Dish Network customers. The television group in Victoria, Texas, is negotiating new retrans contracts with Dish for KAVU (ABC), KXTS (CBS) and KMOL (NBC), which ended in mid-July.

With Univision Communications’ dispute with Dish Network ending its second week with seemingly no end in sight, the broadcaster has taken to the airwaves and social media to inform its viewers of other ways they can watch its programming, including via cable, telco and its own over-the-top service Univision Now.

More than 60 Univision O&O station went dark on Dish’s national platforms as the companies battle over a new carriage contract. The Univision-owned stations and cable channels including Univision Deportes and Galavision went dark at 7 p.m. ET Saturday as the previous contract expired. The sides have been negotiating a new pact for weeks. Dish on Friday night declared the talks at an impasse.

With Fox looking to add stations in NFL markets, Miami is a prime candidate. And that means Ed Ansin’s WSVN there may be in danger of losing its Fox affiliation. If it does, it would be the third time Ansin has lost a major affiliation. ~~~ Also, I’ve been hearing rumors that Fox is once again pushing the idea that it should represent its affiliates in all retrans negotiation. Is it the second coming of network comp or another sign of the heavy hand of the networks?

To come even close to covering the $3.3 billion it agreed to pay the NFL for its Thursday primetime package, Fox is going to have to generate more money from retrans and reverse comp. It can do that by acquiring more stations and putting a tighter squeeze on mVPDs and affiliates. But in doing so, it may eventually test the economic and regulatory limits of retrans.

The city of Yuma, Ariz., has sent a letter to Charter demanding the cable operator provide a credit to subscribers who have been without two Yuma-based stations since Feb. 1 due to a fee fight with their owner, Northwest Broadcasting. The stations affected are: CBS affioiate KSWT and NBC affil KYMA. The stations are two of 11 Northwest-owned network affiliates that have been blacked out in the dispute.

The FCC’s Media Bureau has sided with DirecTV after Hawaiian MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE complained that the satellite operator didn’t negotiate with it in good faith. MCG Capital and Raycom Media jointly own HITV, which operates KFVE. The station has been off AT&T-owned DirecTV since Oct. 19, 2017, amid stalled retrans talks. DirecTV has argued that there is little demand for the station, and it has refused to pay fees to carry KFVE.

The head of the station group takes to his stations’ websites to offer his take on the blackouts and  retransmission consent negotiations with the cable carrier (locally Charter) that broke down over the weekend and caused blackouts of 11 Northwest stations in nine markets. He points the finger directly at Spectrum CEO Tom Rutledge.

Charter has lost 11 local network affiliates in six states on Friday night due to a fee fight with their owner, Northwest Broadcasting. The two sides disagree on who pulled the signals on the stations in California, Arizona, Washington, New York, Oregon and Idaho.

The Arizona independent says Dish pulled the plug, while the satellite service says the station is at fault.

Ramping up its retrans-based rhetorical war with regional station group Lockwood Broadcast Group, Dish Network has accused the owner of KTEN Sherman, Texas, of holding the Super Bowl over the heads of its customers in the market.

AT&T has reached a new carriage deal with American Spirit Media, ending a four-month blackout of the broadcaster’s seven stations on both AT&T’s U-verse and DirecTV services. American Spirit is the duopoly partner of Raycom.

Four Lockwood Broadcast Group stations are no longer available on the satellite service: KAKE Wichita, Kan. (ABC); WHDF Florance, Ala. (CW); WCWG Lexington, N.C. (CW); and KTEN Ada, Okla. (NBC, ABC, CW).

Amid what is relatively light turn-of-the-year infighting between broadcasters and their MVPD partners, WideOpenWest-owned Atlanta-area operator NuLink has lost access to Meredith’s local CBS affiliate WGCL and co-owned independent WPCH (Peachtree TV).

The NBC affiliate in Rapid City, S.D., owned by Rapid Broadcasting, went dark on DirecTV as the new year began. The station said it “has been actively negotiating with DirecTV, but was unable to come to an agreement prior to the expiration of the contract.”

The multi-year agreement also provides for carriage of Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel.

The Sarkes Tarzian-owned stations — WRCB, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga, Tenn., and KTVN, the CBS affiliate in Reno, Nev. — posted notices on their websites that U-verse is no longer carrying them. U-Verse owner AT&T and Sarkes Tarzian are fighting over how much the telco should pay to carry the two.

The new contract covers all the Spanish-language broadcaster’s stations and networks including the Univision Network, UniMás, Galavisión, Univision Deportes Network, El Rey Network, FOROtv, TLNovelas, Telehit, Bandamax, De Pelicula and De Pelicula Clasico.