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The Programming Disputes Thread


interesting as they are one of the last locally owned network station. from northpine

A retransmission consent dispute took NBC affiliate KNBN/21 (Rapid City) off DirecTV as of Jan. 1. KNBN is owned by Rapid Broadcasting and is the only locally-owned station in the Black Hills, as well as one of the last locally-owned network affiliates in the country. The Rapid City market covers the western third of South Dakota as well as parts of Wyoming and Montana.
 
The above post reminded me that in the Jackson, Miss. market, DirecTV has been missing local Fox affiliate WDBD 40 since Sept. 21, 2017. America Spirit has the license but Raycom operates it. So many of us who have DirecTV, have missed not only Fox shows but more importantly NFL football & college football. I had hoped Direct would add a Fox affiliate from another market until the problem was solved. No such luck. I know the easy solution is get an antenna & another TV set. But I am retired (due to heart surgery) and on partial retirement until I turn 65 in a year and a half. I pay a lot for Direct & it is infuriating to have to deal with this problem with no answer for the consumer.
 
FCC Denies KMTP Must-Carry Election Complaint

The FCC has ruled that satellite carrier Dish was within its rights to deny must carry to a San Francisco noncommercial TV station because the station used Priority Express Mail rather than certified mail to make its carriage election, signaling that the station's letter was trumped by the letter of the law.

The FCC conceded, in rejecting the complaint from the station, that KMTP TV San Francisco made its mandatory carriage election in plenty of time, that Dish received the letter--it was sent Sept. 27, 2017 for a Jan. 1, 2018 election deadline--and that it included all the required information.

The station, licensed to the Minority Television Project, provides multicultural programming to the Bay Area market including targeted to African Americans, so the decision has the effect of reducing the footprint of a TV station providing diverse programming.

Dish rejected the election, pointing to the letter of the law about proper election correspondence: "Pursuant to federal regulations, elections for mandatory carriage must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. Your letter was sent to DISH by United States Postal Service Priority Mail, and therefore is not a valid election. As such, your election is rejected based on the foregoing.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ne...ies-kmtp-must-carry-election-complaint/171338
 
Charter Spectrum has just yanked KCYU and KFFX from their lineups due to a Northwest Broadcasting dispute. Lovely, there goes a majority of sitcom reruns, 10:00 news and Fox shows (including tonight's Hell's Kitchen finale). I'll snap a picture when I have the chance. Suppose this also affects KMVU/Medford as Spectrum serves that area too.
 
https://tvanswerman.com/2018/02/03/charter-loses-11-network-affiliates-in-fee-fight/

Charter in a contract dispute with 11 stations.

The stations are: KSWT-TV, the CBS affiliate in Yuma, Arizona; KYMA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Yuma; KIEM-TV, the NBC affiliate in Eureka, California; KVIQ, the CBS affiliate in Eureka, KAYU-TV, the Fox affiliate in Spokane, Washington; WSYT-TV, the Fox affiliate in Syracuse, New York; WICZ-TV, the Fox affiliate in Binghamton, New York; KMVU-TV, the Fox affiliate in Medford, Oregon; KFFX-TV, the Fox affiliate in Yakima, Washington; KAYU-TV, the Fox affiliate in Spokane, Washington; and KPVI-TV, the NBC affiliate in Idaho Falls, Idaho.


http://www.northwestfairdeal.com

Now Spectrum cable has released a statement on the contract dispute.
 
http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/in-retr...calls-charter-ceo-cold-and-calculating/200221


The Feud continues between Charter CEO and Northwest Broadcasting CEO over a contract dispute.

Brian Brady, the CEO of Northwest Broadcasting is accusing Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge of weaponizing his own customers “to do his dirty work.”

Northwest and Charter began negotiating a new re-transmission agreement last June. But after stops and starts, the current deal ran out on Dec. 31. Then, with 10 minutes’ warning, Brady says, Northwest stations were pulled from Charter’s Spectrum last Friday. As happens in these re-transmission battles, Spectrum then asked its customers to “take action now and let Northwest know you want a fair deal!”

In an open letter posted on the websites of Northwest stations, Brady fired back, writing, “Tom Rutledge the President and CEO of the second largest cable company on the planet doesn’t care about and has no respect for you. He only cares that he can use you as one more weapon in negotiating with our company while you continue to pay for the substandard service most of you have described to me.”

Northwest owns NBC affiliates in Arizona and Idaho, and Fox affiliates in Syracuse, Spokane, and Yakima, which are carried on Spectrum.
 
What I don't get is KCYU/KFFX was there one hour, gone the next. No warning whatsoever, I've seen other disputes where they had crawls or promos warning viewers they will lose these stations after X:XX AM/PM on a certain date. Now they have been off Charter for 5 days with no chance of a deal. They cost the Super Bowl from Yuma-El Centro (KYMA) and Eureka (KIEM) viewers and they could lose the Olympics as well. I hope they don't let this drag on for months and months like the Dish vs. Fisher dispute in 2009. Time for me to send some emails to Spectrum and NW Broadcasting. Thank goodness I have a 3rd TV hooked up to a Zenith DTT901 converter box. All I have to do is go to 41-1 or RF channel 29, and Fox shows up.
And as for cable networks, time for me to ditch Spectrum anyways. $182/month bills and stupid Spectrum commercials be gone. We never paid that much with Xfinity back on the westside.

BTW has that ever happened before on a large-scale dispute? Shut off a dozen OTA stations without a warning to any subscriber or customer?
 
What I don't get is KCYU/KFFX was there one hour, gone the next. No warning whatsoever, I've seen other disputes where they had crawls or promos warning viewers they will lose these stations after X:XX AM/PM on a certain date. Now they have been off Charter for 5 days with no chance of a deal. They cost the Super Bowl from Yuma-El Centro (KYMA) and Eureka (KIEM) viewers and they could lose the Olympics as well. I hope they don't let this drag on for months and months like the Dish vs. Fisher dispute in 2009. Time for me to send some emails to Spectrum and NW Broadcasting. Thank goodness I have a 3rd TV hooked up to a Zenith DTT901 converter box. All I have to do is go to 41-1 or RF channel 29, and Fox shows up.
And as for cable networks, time for me to ditch Spectrum anyways. $182/month bills and stupid Spectrum commercials be gone. We never paid that much with Xfinity back on the westside.

BTW has that ever happened before on a large-scale dispute? Shut off a dozen OTA stations without a warning to any subscriber or customer?

Dish Network has a history of doing that for stations in a contract dispute.
 
https://www.fiercecable.com/cable/directv-wins-fcc-decision-honolulu-retrains-dispute

Now AT&T wins over the FCC Decision over the Contract dispute with KFVE

The FCC’s Media Bureau has sided with DirecTV after Hawaiian MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE-TV complained that the satellite operator didn’t negotiate with it in good faith.

MCG Capital Corporation and Raycom Media jointly own HITV, which operates KFVE-TV. The station has been off AT&T-owned DirecTV since Oct. 19 amid stalled broadcast retransmission licensing talks. DirecTV has argued that there is little demand for the station, and it has refused to pay fees to carry KFVE-TV’s signals. HITV launched a complaint with the FCC in November, alleging that DirecTV negotiated in bad faith.

The FCC responded with a ruling (Word doc) Monday:

“Rather than provide a counter-offer to DirecTV’s initial proposal, HITV requested DirecTV to provide another proposal that would be workable for HITV. We agree with DirecTV that it is not obligated to negotiate against itself,” the Media Bureau’s order read.


“After HITV filed the complaint, DirecTV made another, albeit similar, carriage proposal, and it explained why competitive marketplace considerations did not support an offer of monetary compensation to HITV,” the order continued. "Once DirecTV put forth its initial proposal, however, it was not required to put forth a subsequent proposal in the absence of a responsive proposal from HITV. “

The FCC ruling is being observed closely by pay TV operators, who are pushing back against skyrocketing broadcast retransmission licensing costs.
 


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