• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

LIN-TV vs. Time Warner

G

gr8oldies

LIN-TV has stations in several markets, including local WDTN, the NBC affiliate in Dayton,. WANE-TV in Ft. Wayne, WISH in Indianapolis and WLFI in Lafayette. Locally, Time Warner pulled the plug on WDTN as the agreement between WDTN and Lin expired. Leading up to the "death date", WDTN was running crawls every half hour warning about the impending inability of TWC customers to watch WDTN , even urging viewers to switch to Dish Network.

Obviously an agreemen t will be reached, but why would WDTN slit its own throat like that, and as an advertiser, why would I pay the same rate to reach 300000 less viewers?
 
Because LIN wants $$$$$$$$.

Both sides have valid arguments. But if the average viewer does not have to pay to view the local broadcaster's signals over the air, I don't think the cable companies should either (guess who they pass along those costs to...). It is descrimination against cable and satellite customers.

Before DBS satellite and IPTV/DTH fiber systems from the telephone companies, cable companies (especially in areas where it is hard to get clear signals - most of everywhere) were the only game in town, and they could keep a signal off the air and devistate the broadcaster. As a result, broadcasters did not ask for cash (the smaller stations just begged to be carried).

Come new regulations regarding retransmission consent/must carry in 1992, DBS in 1994, and consolidation (mostly by publicly traded companies with greedy shareholders) after the 1996 Telecommunications Act (and further rules allowing for duoplolies, and the phone companies competing), and this is what you get.
 
Re: LIN-TV vs. Time Warner & Brighthouse

In Mobile, LIN is advising Brighthouse subscribers to flip to Dish to keep from loosing Fox and the CW at the end of the current contract. Funny thing is, I think Brighthouse has less than 10,000 subscribers in the Mobile DMA. Seems like they would be spending more money on the negotiations than they would make from subscriber fees.
 
I suspect the negotiations are not market based, but at a corporate level. So the Indiana Bright House subscribers who want WISH are affected by the same negotiations as the Mobile viewers.
 
KXAN in Austin was pulled off the T-W system a few days ago. I used to work for LIN and they are an evil company. They'd do anything, even run their stations into the ground, to make a few $ short term.

Time Warner and Bright House (two words) have a programming agreement. Bright House used to be a part of TWC. So if they are having trouble with LIN in one market, they are probably working together in another market. (That's why NFL Network isn't on T-W, and also isn't on Bright House in such major markets as Tampa and Orlando.)
 
LIN owns WTNH-TV/DT (ABC) channel 8/digital 10 and WCTX-TV/DT (MY) channel 59/digital 39, both of which are licensed to New Haven and serve the Hartford/New Haven TV market. Comcast still has them on analog cable channel 8 and 9, respectively, here in New Britain, CT (same for Hartford). Thankfully, I can get an adequate signal of both stations with a digital tuner.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom