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The Programming Disputes Thread

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t...-cable-operators-unbundle-programming-1264766

Comcast, ViacomCBS, Discovery and Disney achieve a narrow victory on a preliminary injunction motion concerning the state's novel à la carte mandate.
Maine attempted to revolutionize the cable television market by giving consumers the ability to purchase unbundled channels and television programs. Based on a new decision, the effort may have happened a tad too quickly. On Friday, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of LD 832 with the conclusion that Maine's recently enacted "?* la carte" law likely violated the First Amendment rights of Comcast, ViacomCBS, Discovery and Disney. But U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen's 35-page decision hands the TV giants only a narrow victory that could portend trouble for them down the road.

Maine lawmakers passed LD 832 earlier this year with an eye toward doing something about the expensive cost of subscribing to cable TV packages. Blame for the rising price of cable services was attributed by the law's sponsor to consumers being "forced to purchase cable TV packages which include dozens of channels the consumer has no interest in watching.”
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Here is the ruling on Maine's A la Carte bill.
 
https://bangordailynews.com/2019/12...nes-first-in-the-nation-a-la-carte-cable-law/

Here is more

AUGUSTA, Maine — A first-in-the-nation Maine law seeking to force cable providers to offer a la carte services was temporarily blocked by a federal judge last week in a decision that renders the new requirement unlikely to ever take effect.

The telecommunications giant Comcast and several major operators including Fox, Disney and CBS sued Maine in federal court in September over a bill passed by the Democratic-led Legislature mandating that people be allowed to buy access to individual channels or programs, arguing that it was a constitutional violation that was preempted by federal law.
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Found one that got overlooked...for maybe obvious reasons

WHIZ TV, the only local station for the Zanesville, OH market, is in a dispute with Dish since July 31st. WHIZ is locally owned by Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System, Inc. and is its only TV station. They also own WHIZ AM and WHIZ FM.

https://whiznews.com/2019/07/31/1091923/

Dish programming has taken WHIZ-TV off of their airwaves.

For Dish customers streaming online or if anyone knows any Dish customers, please call them at 1-800-333-3474 and request to get us back on the air.

We will bring you more updates as soon as we know anything.
 
unclehonkey said:
Found one that got overlooked...for maybe obvious reasons

WHIZ TV, the only local station for the Zanesville, OH market, is in a dispute with Dish since July 31st. WHIZ is locally owned by Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System, Inc. and is its only TV station. They also own WHIZ AM and WHIZ FM.

https://whiznews.com/2019/07/31/1091923/

Dish programming has taken WHIZ-TV off of their airwaves.

For Dish customers streaming online or if anyone knows any Dish customers, please call them at 1-800-333-3474 and request to get us back on the air.

We will bring you more updates as soon as we know anything.
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does this company have any ties to Sinclair Broadcasting Group. if they do, then they may be standing up for Sinclair in protest of the on going FSN dispute as Dish has permanently dropped them from their lineup (for now, most likely the will return once the next dispute between Dish and Sinclair over carriage of the Sinclair O&O TV stations and Tennis Channel is resolved, that won't be for a while).
 
https://www.cablefax.com/distribution/nctc-fox-corp-reach-impasse-in-carriage-negotiations

Fox (The Murdoch Owned one) is in a dispute with NCTC for their O&O's, Fox News and Fox Sports.


There are only a few days left before folks will begin ringing in the New Year, but Fox Corp and NCTC are spending the final week of 2019 negotiating carriage agreements for Fox O&O TV stations and a number of cable networks, including Fox News, before their current deal’s Dec 31 expiration date.

Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and Fox Soccer Plus are also at risk of going dark come 2020. On a website launched Thursday, Fox claimed that NCTC rejected its offers that are in-line with other deals it has struck with cooperatives and other distribution partners, instead demanding terms that are more favorable than deals individual NCTC members have struck with Fox.

“Our priority is to reach a fair agreement with our valued partners without carriage disruption, which is why we offered each participating NCTC cable company at risk of losing Fox networks a short-term direct agreement to carry our networks without disruption,” Fox said in a statement on the website. “However, the NCTC has directed its members not to talk with Fox in a misguided attempt to fabricate an avoidable crisis.”
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Will_H_69_9 said:
does this company have any ties to Sinclair Broadcasting Group. if they do, then they may be standing up for Sinclair in protest of the on going FSN dispute as Dish has permanently dropped them from their lineup (for now, most likely the will return once the next dispute between Dish and Sinclair over carriage of the Sinclair O&O TV stations and Tennis Channel is resolved, that won't be for a while).
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nope none at all. It is locally owned and that is probably the issue. Dish likes to go after the little guy and since this is the only affiliate for the owner they dont have much in thre fight against Dish. They had posted a blurb the day previously (July 30th)
WhizStory.png
 
https://fox61.com/optimum/

Attention Optimum Subscribers
Starting at 11:59 p.m. December 31, WTIC and WCCT may not be available on Optimum. That means you could lose access to your favorite FOX programming, including the NFL Wildcard and Divisional playoff games, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and The Resident, and your favorite CW programs as well as your local news, weather and sports. Tell Optimum to keep WTIC and WCCT by calling 1-203-870-2583.

Information about WTIC and WCCT on Optimum
In order for WTIC and WCCT to be delivered to your home, we negotiate agreements for the rights to carry our stations with video service providers like Optimum. WTIC and WCCT have agreements in place with all of the video providers in our area, including DISH, DirecTV, Spectrum, Cox, and Frontier.
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Tegna in a dispute with Optimum this affects WTIC-TV.
 
Had to check what parts of Connecticut they serve. Looks like Torrington, a small area near Waterbury and then maybe Orange or Milford. The rest for the state is in Fairfield County. Greater Hartford is dominated by Comcast and COX. Frontier also serves a big part of the state.
 
KML-224 said:
Had to check what parts of Connecticut they serve. Looks like Torrington, a small area near Waterbury and then maybe Orange or Milford. The rest for the state is in Fairfield County. Greater Hartford is dominated by Comcast and COX. Frontier also serves a big part of the state.
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Frontier serves most of the state. What ever was SNET territory.
 
https://gizmodo.com/fox-networks-could-soon-go-dark-for-millions-still-stuc-1840712799

Fox (Murdoch owned outlet) in a dispute to start the 2020's with NCTC. This affects Fox Television stations (The ones that manage KTVU, KTTV, KTVU+, WTTG, WNYW and WFLD) Fox News and FS1.


Well, it is when things go smoothly at least. Which they most definitely aren’t for 2020's agreements. And if no deal is reached, those channels go dark for that provider’s subscribers. So no more Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, or FS2.

(Just in case you haven’t kept up with this year’s confusing Disney-Fox merger, here’s a quick refresher: What Disney bought for a cool $71.3 billion back in March was 21st Century Fox, giving the Mouse the rights to 20th Century Fox’s films, FX’s TV shows, and National Geographic among other properties. The newly formed Fox Corporation, commonly referred to as “New Fox” or simply Fox, split off from that acquisition, most notably taking with it Fox News, Fox Business, and Fox Sports’ U.S. operations.)

As spotted by Cord Cutters News, several of these cable providers have taken to Twitter and local media outlets to spotlight what they consider to be Fox’s strong-arming tactics. They argue Fox has recently started trying to drum up discontent among their customers via local advertising to coerce them into accepting steep fee hikes. One North-Carolina based provider, Atlantic Telephone Membership Corporation, described this increase as nothing short of “outrageous” on Twitter. Several others have claimed these price jumps amount to as much as 10 times the current rate of inflation.
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https://www.jsonline.com/story/ente...-stations-down-wire-talks-directv/2785905001/

Hearst Television in a Dispute with AT&T to start in 2020. This Dispute affects KCRA, WBAL, WCVB, and WISN,

DirecTV and AT&T TV Now subscribers could lose WISN-TV (Channel 12), if an agreement between the satellite providers and the station's parent company on retransmission fees isn't reached.

The current deal is set to expire at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Statements posted by DirecTV and Hearst Television, WISN-TV's parent company, didn't make it sound like an agreement was imminent.

"While we hope to conclude our negotiations before December 31st, so as not to deprive any of our respective viewers and customers of our programming, we want to advise our viewers and customers that the possibility of non-renewal of our current agreement exists," reads a post on WISN's website.
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https://www.multichannel.com/news/mediacom-nexstar-retrans-talks-could-go-down-to-the-wire

Mediacom Communications customers could be without Nexstar Media Group stations in the New Year if the parties fail to renew a retransmission consent agreement that is set to expire on Dec. 31.

Mediacom has about 730,000 video subscribers across the country, many of whom are concentrated in the state of Iowa, where the upcoming Iowa Caucus could play a role in the talks. The Caucus is scheduled for Feb. 3 and is usually a wellspring of broadcast advertising dollars leading up to the actual vote. Any disruption in how viewers access broadcast stations could have an impact on ad revenue during that period.
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Nexstar in a Dispute with Mediacom
 
https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/new...cle_eec18eff-2226-5251-8a44-692c835349d2.html

Antietam Broadband has been named as one of the parties that is supporting National Cable Television Cooperative in the Fox Corp Dispute.

National contract negotiations between Fox Corp. and about 700 cable television companies took a public turn in Hagerstown this week.

For weeks, Fox Corp. and the National Cable Television Cooperative, a group of more than 700 small- and medium-sized cable television operators across the country, have been negotiating a new contract to carry Fox News and some other programming. The current agreement ends Dec. 31.

Locally, Antietam Broadband is a member of the cooperative. Brian Lynch, Antietam’s president, is a member of the cooperative’s board of directors.

In a statement, Fox said it wants to “reach a fair agreement with our valued partners.”

The cooperative said Fox is seeking “substantial” increases and its rates for Fox News have increased 800% since 2004.
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ssetta reporting on the Boston-Manchester TV Board that WFXT has been taken off FIOS in Boston. I assume other Cox stations too, those in FIOS markets.

Meanwhile, Hearst and DirecTV have extended talks and carriage until tomorrow afternoon. No deal, KCRA and others go bye bye.

What we REALLY don't need in 2020 is the third year in a row of some cable or satellite company wiping out a Yakima station (I'm listening to YOU, KCYU!!) for months and months. There was no warning on both Spectrum or DIRECTV's carriage disputes.
 
crainbebo said:
ssetta reporting on the Boston-Manchester TV Board that WFXT has been taken off FIOS in Boston. I assume other Cox stations too, those in FIOS markets.

Meanwhile, Hearst and DirecTV have extended talks and carriage until tomorrow afternoon. No deal, KCRA and others go bye bye.

What we REALLY don't need in 2020 is the third year in a row of some cable or satellite company wiping out a Yakima station (I'm listening to YOU, KCYU!!) for months and months. There was no warning on both Spectrum or DIRECTV's carriage disputes.
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https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/apollo-cox-stations-blacked-verizon-fios-viewers

WPXI and WSYT are also named in the Cox/ Fios Dispute.
 


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