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I can see more of this happeing nation wide where cable companies are chargeing folks to get their Locals in HD. When the cable company is pulling it in for free through a OTA and pushing it out to their customers. Local stations in most states will not like this since they send their information out for free. This is where Direct and Dish who pay for it will not be effected by this. To where folks on cable getting their locals in HD could be effected once this gets going. So folks on Cable get ready I can see this happening in every state where cable compaines are doing this..



Sinclair May Pull Stations From Mediacom
Thursday October 26, 3:29 pm ET
By David Pitt, AP Business Writer

Sinclair Broadcasting Threatens to Pull 22 Stations From Mediacom


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061026/apfn_mediacom_sinclair_dispute.html?.v=1

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A federal judge's refusal to intervene in a contract dispute between Mediacom Communications Corp. and Sinclair Broadcast Group means cable television viewers of 22 stations in 12 states could suddenly lose their favorite channels.
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In Iowa, for example, Mediacom carries KDSM, a Fox TV affiliate in Des Moines owned by Sinclair. The station carries the popular "American Idol" and "The Simpsons."

If Sinclair carries through with threats to pull its 22 stations off Mediacom's cable system at midnight Nov. 30, cable viewers would be forced to go without the programs, buy a satellite dish system or try to get the signal from an antenna.

The same goes for KGAN, a CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids, which carries "Survivor" and "CSI."

Mediacom has about 625,000 households that receive Sinclair's broadcast stations, court documents said.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt, in a ruling dated Tuesday, refused to stop Sinclair from pulling the stations from Mediacom systems.

In court documents filed on Oct. 5, Mediacom said Sinclair violated federal antitrust laws by forcing it to pay to rebroadcast 22 stations' signals when it was only willing to pay for rebroadcasting 13 stations.

The two companies have agreements dating back to 2002, but when Mediacom contacted Sinclair last year to negotiate transmission rights through 2008, Sinclair wanted money.

Sinclair said that since satellite carriers such as DirecTV and The Dish Network were willing to pay for retransmission of its stations, Mediacom should as well. The satellite carriers, operated by the DirecTV Group and EchoStar Communications Corp. respectively, compete with cable providers such as Mediacom.

After months of negotiations Sinclair informed Mediacom that it had entered an agreement with a satellite provider to rebroadcast its stations and that Sinclair would be paid extra for each customer that switched from Mediacom to the satellite provider.

KDSM was running a message to viewers on air Wednesday night that encouraged them to call DirecTV if they wanted to continue getting the station. It said viewers could get cash for switching from Mediacom.

Mediacom filed the lawsuit, seeking an injunction stopping Sinclair from carrying through with its plan.

Pratt ruled that Mediacom had not proven antitrust claims and that it would be "unlikely to succeed on the merits of its antitrust claim."

Sinclair officials called the lawsuit frivolous and said they expected to win in court.

"It is ironic that a near monopolist, such as Mediacom, would attempt to use the antitrust laws to gain an advantage against a single broadcaster like Sinclair," said David Smith, Sinclair's Chief Executive Officer, in a written statement. "We have negotiated in good faith with Mediacom in a manner consistent with our negotiations with other cable providers, and it is gratifying that a federal court has indicated that such negotiations are permissible."

Sinclair officials said they are willing to continue to negotiate with Mediacom.

Mediacom filed a notice of an appeal Wednesday, which said it will take the case to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mediacom spokeswoman Phyllis Peters said Thursday that the company has renegotiated agreements with 40 other broadcast stations in Iowa and in other states.

"We've always reached successful agreements. We bring something of value to the broadcasters, obviously they have programming of value that we want to get out to our customers, so it's a good relationship."

Peters said Mediacom offered an agreement that would compensate Sinclair at a fair market value equal to the value of agreements with other broadcast stations in Des Moines. She said some of the others even have more viewers.

"Is anyone asking Sinclair why they deserve more?" she said.

Court documents indicate the difference between Sinclair's asking and Mediacom's willingness to pay is about $1 million.

Peters said the judge's decision is one step in a continuing process.

"Mediacom is working to pursue all options that would protect customers from being held hostage by the type of station-tying and cost-raising practices Sinclair is demanding," she said.