WLKY-TV was removed from the Time Warner Cable lineup today after Insight Communications' parent, Time Warner Cable, was unable to reach an agreement with WLKY's parent company, Hearst Television Inc., on how much Time Warner should pay Hearst for its programming on WLKY.
Hearst also was negotiating carriage agreements with Time Warner for 28 other television stations it owns in other markets.
In the place of WLKY's signal, Time Warner (NYSE: TWC) is broadcasting the signal of WROC-TV, a CBS network affiliate in Rochester, N.Y., to Insight Communications customers in the Louisville area.
"Tonight, Hearst Television has chosen to black out their signals from our customers rather than continue negotiations, despite their CEO saying just two weeks ago that broadcaster blackouts are unfair to consumers," Time Warner said in an e-mailed statement. "Time Warner Cable has reached hundreds of agreements with other broadcasters without broadcaster blackouts, but Hearst's demand for a nearly 300 percent increase is way out of line. That kind of outrageous increase is unfair to our customers and unsustainable for our business.
"We believe broadcaster blackouts are wrong. Despite Hearst's blackout, we stand ready to continue negotiations and are hopeful that the channel will be returned to the lineup shortly."
WLKY offered the following take on the failed negotiations in a statement on its Web site:
"Unfortunately, notwithstanding our best efforts to reach a new carriage agreement, we were unable to do so. As a result, unless there is a change in Insight's position, carriage of WLKY-TV will no longer be available to you on Insight systems.
"We cannot predict if or when discussions with Insight will resume or if or when WLKY-TV's programming will be restored on Insight systems."
WLKY is not the first station to run into problems negotiating a new carriage agreement with Time Warner.
WDRB-TV was taken off the air for several days last month as WDRB and Time Warner officials were unable to reach an agreement on the rate Time Warner should pay WDRB for its programming. The companies did reach an agreement that restored WDRB's signal to the cable lineup, but terms were not disclosed.
Time Warner Cable completed a $3 billion acquisition of Insight Communications in February, as Business First previously reported. The acquisition added more than 760,000 customers in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana to Time Warner Cable’s operations.