No brain(er)s

From the Pensacola News-Journal-

Sinclair Broadcasting has agreed to allow cable operator Mediacom to continue broadcasting WEAR-TV to its cable customers through Jan. 5 while the two companies negotiate a deal.

As a result, Mediacom's customers in Santa Rosa County, Pensacola Beach and Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia counties in Alabama will receive ABC network programming for at least the next five weeks.

"Recently, there have been more-substantive conversations," Barry Faber, general counsel and vice president of WEAR parent company Sinclair, said in a nationwide teleconference call with the news media Thursday. "Nothing in those conversations really increased our optimism, but we thought maybe we should give it one last chance.

"We hope that a deal gets done," he said. "But I don't want people to hold out false hope.

At issue is Sinclair's demand that the cable company pay per-subscriber fees. Historically, cable companies have not paid such fees for over-the-air broadcasts.

The dispute involves 22 Sinclair stations in various markets served by Mediacom.

Sinclair's contract with Mediacom expired at midnight Thursday.

Mediacom was bracing for the worst Thursday. The company gave away antennas at its Milton and Gulf Breeze offices.

"It's been pretty brisk," said Barbara Bonowicz, a local spokeswoman for Mediacom.

I would of thought the television station would be the one giving out antennas not Mediacom. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.

Who would be the loser in this dispute? Sinclair would almost certainly lose advertising revenue if their stations aren't carried by Mediacom cable operators. Less and less people rely on antennas for television reception. In addition to the fact that nearby Mobile Alabama television stations(s) could pick up WEAR's viewers. So is this standoff in reality all a bluff by Sinclair Broadcasting?

Linked to- Bullwinkle, Basil's Blog,