January 8, 2007
Albany -- A legal logjam between Sinclair Broadcasting and Mediacom cable results in the removal of Tallahassee's WTWC from the cable lineup in 20 areas served by Mediacom.
Sinclair has been demanding higher compensation for its WTWC signal from Mediacom than the cable company was willing to pay, and Mediacom says in a press release that Sinclair was unwilling to enter into binding arbitration to settle the dispute, so they were forced to pull the Tallahassee NBC affiliate's signal from the cable lineup.
Mediacom says in their press release that it has been unable to get a decision from Sinclair:
"We are certainly dismayed with Sinclair's inability to commit to our offer of binding arbitration made yesterday, a solution that was strongly encouraged in the recent Order by the FCC's Media Bureau," said John Pascarelli, Executive Vice President for Mediacom.
"Contrary to their statement today that Sinclair had not heard back from Mediacom, further discussions regarding arbitration could not take place this afternoon because according to Barry Faber, Sinclair's VP and General Counsel, Sinclair's CEO, David Smith, was not available to approve such discussions."
As a result, WALB-TV will be the only NBC affiliate on several Mediacom lineups:
In the Valdosta Area:
Valdosta
Lowndes County
Hahira
Cecil
Remerton
Brooks County
Lakeland
In the Thomasville area:
Thomasville
Cairo
Thomas County
Grady County
In the Bainbridge Area:
Bainbridge
Decatur County
Donalsonville
Serninole County
In Florida, WTWC was removed from the Havana Area:
Havana
Greensboro
Gadsden
Gadsden County
Gretna
Feedback: news@walb.com?subject=WTWCremoved/DM
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