broadcastfan9751 136 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that Media General has pulled 18 of its stations from Dish after negotiations for a new retransmission consent contract fell through. Dish claims that it has attempted to reach a new agreement, but that Media General has remained immovable in it's demands. Dish also apparently proposed a short-term extension of the previous contract until their merger with Young Broadcasting is completed. It is also calling for reform of the retransmission consent process. It is the first retransmission blackout in Media General's history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that Media General has pulled 18 of it's stations from Dish after negotiations for a new retransmission consent contract fell through. Dish claims that it has attempted to reach a new agreement, but that Media General has remained immovable in it's demands. Dish also apparently proposed a short-term extension of the previous contract until their merger with Young Broadcasting is completed. It is also calling for reform of the retransmission consent process. It is the first retransmission blackout in Media General's history. Dish is starting to be as bad as Time Warner Cable is with this stuff. I can't figure out why Dish keeps getting themselves into this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Dish is starting to be as bad as Time Warner Cable is with this stuff. I can't figure out why Dish keeps getting themselves into this situation. Two words: Charlie Ergen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4256 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I can't figure out why Dish keeps getting themselves into this situation. Two words: Charlie Ergen. This doesn't help, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 TVNewsCheck is reporting that Media General has asked Dish to restore WJTV in Jackson, MS, WHLT in Hattiesburg, MS, WKRG in Mobile, AL, and WVTM in Birmingham, AL in order to provide viewers with information on Tropical Storm Karen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Classy move from Media General. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Broadcasting & Cable reports that Dish has filed a Good Faith Negotiation complaint with the FCC against Media General, asking the FCC to require Media General to submit to third-party mediation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 720 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Interesting how Google picks things up from the World Now sites. WCMH GM Dan Bradley gives his "Don't Drop WCMH" speech ... courtesy of the WFLA website. http://www.wfla.com/story/22611323/dont-drop-wcmh By changing the domain, I can turn it into a WVTM story: http://www.alabamas13.com/story/22611323/dont-drop-wcmh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 720 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Dish is starting to be as bad as Time Warner Cable is with this stuff. I can't figure out why Dish keeps getting themselves into this situation. As someone with an interest in keeping my cable bill as low as possible, it's hard for me not to admire Time Warner for playing hardball. Everybody wants a piece of the cable money pool so its hard for me to fault them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannical bastard 3496 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Dish is especially bad at these retrans standoffs. Their track record is horrible when compared to DirecTV and other cable companies. Being that this is the first time Media General has ever had a standoff with any pay tv provider...Dish is taking the low road parading around town telling you about how "CBS 5" and "ABC 6" (whatever your local MG station is) are taking away your right to watch them on Dish. When you add up the other companies they have had issues with... (Lin, Raycom, Hoak, etc....) you start to see where the problem really lies.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2878 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The Hoak one is still ongoing, I think. The Hopper and Ergen, plus the retrans environment of today, do not help. But even before the Hopper they had disputes. They had a long one with Fisher, I recall, and an unusually protracted one with a single station—WBRZ Baton Rouge. I think that one lasted at least a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadcastfan9751 136 Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 In a related story, Dish has submitted an objection Media General's merger with Young Broadcasting, saying that Media General is attempting to extend its retransmission consent terms to the Young stations when the deal is completed, which it says could be a violation of FCC rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 In a related story, Dish has submitted an objection Media General's merger with Young Broadcasting, saying that Media General is attempting to extend its retransmission consent terms to the Young stations when the deal is completed, which it says could be a violation of FCC rules. For the most part this is standard operating procedure. A WSJ article also pointed this out back in July stating "big station groups can apply the fee terms they’ve negotiated to smaller stations they buy, providing an immediate uplift in fee revenue." For example, let's say MG was able to negotiate 50 cents per station and Young only 25 cents per station. If this was a straight up acquisition of Young by MG the MG rates would then apply to the Young stations upon closing. Without knowing all the details I think the issue here is that it's a merger and not an acquisition. It looks like MG is trying to cover their bases and extend terms that wouldn't normally apply with a merger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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