KBJR (NBC-MNT) Duluth, Minn.; WISE (NBC-MNT) Fort Wayne, Ind.; and WEEK (NBC) Peoria, Ill., go dark on Mediacom systems after a retrans contract expired with no new deal in place.
RETRANS
Granite Stations Pulled In 3 Mediacom Markets
After being unable to reach a new retransmission consent deal, Granite Broadcasting Corp. stations in three markets were pulled from Mediacom Communications cable systems.
The stations involved are KBJR (NBC-MNT) Duluth, Minn.; WISE (NBC-MNT) Fort Wayne, Ind.; and WEEK (NBC) Peoria, Ill.
In a statement, Mediacom said: “After extensive negotiations towards a new agreement, Granite is still demanding more than double the per subscriber price paid under the prior contract. Since these costs will ultimately be absorbed by the hard working residents of rural Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota, we have repeatedly communicated to Granite that their outrageous financial demands are unacceptable.
“Mediacom was willing to leave the stations on while negotiations continued, but in an attempt to force Mediacom to accept a bad deal, Granite resorted to using a blackout to hold our customers hostage. Unfortunately, this ruthless tactic has become the calling card of the broadcast television industry in recent years.
“Despite Granite’s actions, we stand ready to continue negotiations with the goal of reaching a fair agreement for our customers.”
Comments (3)
Joanne McDonald says:
June 1, 2015 at 3:24 pm
I would rather see Gray Television buy KDLH, WPTA, and WTVH, and Lin Media-Media General buy KOFY to combine it with KRON while wanting Quincy getting the chance to continue their own pursue on acquiring KBJR-KRII, WISE, and WEEK as those are the stations Quincy has intended to acquire since February 2014 as a way to put Granite out of bankruptcy and out of the broadcasting business for good.