Super Bowl won't be available in high definition

[Sean Mota]

Super Bowl won't be available in high definition
Service not offered on ABC channel for Time Warner customers; viewers need an antennae
By CARL BURNETT JR.
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

If you want officials to know how you feel about this dispute, here's how to contact them: * Sinclair Broadcast Group
E-mail them at: comments@sbgi.net[/EMAIL">comments@sbgi.net"]comments@sbgi.net
410-568-1500

Time Warner Cable
www.timewarnercable.com
800-617-4311

LANCASTER - People buying their first large-screen, high-definition televisions in Lancaster who hope to see the Super Bowl in HD better have an antennae.
Time-Warner cable customers will not receive the game broadcast on Feb. 5 in high definition. Time Warner and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the parent of the local ABC affiliate station in Columbus, have not reached an agreement allowing Time Warner to broadcast the high-definition channel. Sinclair is based in Maryland.
Viewers will be able to watch the game on the regular ABC station, but not in high definition.
"A lot of people probably bought HDTVs during the holidays for the game and they aren't going to see it," said Nate Holbrook, 23, of Lancaster. "That's just wrong. It's like buying a car and then not being able to drive it."
No one from Sinclair Broadcasting or WSYX in Columbus returned telephone calls Friday afternoon.
Heidi Wilke, a spokeswoman for Time Warner's Mid-Ohio Division, said negotiations to carry Sinclair Broadcasting Group's HD programming have been going for a couple of years.
"We offer the other Columbus stations in HD, but we haven't been able to reach an agreement with Sinclair," Wilke said.
"The other commercial broadcasters provide us with their HD programming at no additional charge, and we do not charge our customers," Wilke said.
Wilke said Sinclair wants to charge Time Warner for the commercial service that is broadcast free to people with special HD antennae.
Michael Foley, 22, of Lancaster, said Sinclair needs to "step up to plate."
"They are just trying to squeeze another buck out of us," Foley said.

 

[korsjs]

there are going to be alot of mad people.

 

[fayrich]

My brother lives in Lancaster and has Time Warner. Guess I'll have to invite him to make the 3 hr drive and watch it with me.

 

[JamesJ]

seems like sinclair makes alot of stinks dont they? dont they fight with dish network all the time? who do these people think they are!

 

[Hall]

Please add locations to thread titles. Please ??
That said, the local station owned by Sinclair in Dayton OH, 60 miles west of Columbus, WDTN (NBC), is also not carried by Time Warner's Western Ohio division. Oddly, maybe two years ago, Sinclair owned the ABC station, which was carried by TW. The local NBC at that time, WKEF, wasn't carried by TW either. They "traded" networks with another company. No idea why when they owned the ABC affiliate they allowed TW to carry them then though...

 

[mdonnelly]

Cox cable in OKC doesn't carry FOX-HD here, owned by Sinclair. Going on 2 years now.

 

[JamesJ]

I think sinclair is a really weird group, I dont want to sound like I am judging them, as I dont know the inside details, but all these holdouts make one wonder!

 

[garn9173]

the Fox affiliate in Central Iowa is owned by $inclair and Mediacom doesn't carry FOX-HD here. I know what people with $inclair owned ABC local's are going through, went through it last year.

 

[CbandLover]

I have service here and have been dealing with this for years. Sinclair owns both the ABC and FOX affils in Columbus. If you visit Sinclair's site, they harp on free HD for everyone.. Then why do they want money for it?

They say that cable makes money on Sinclair's HD services.. I will not argue that one way or another. But remember that whatever a cable company charges, SOME if not all of that money made from a box rental fee is used to maintain the system, and provide the converter/decoder for those who don't have an HD over the air tuner in their set. If the tuner box breaks or screws up, you can call the cable company and complain to someone. Do you think Sinclair cares if you can't pick up their HD signal from 20/30 miles away? Nope.

Also, last I heard, Sinclair is not broadcasting at full power from the new tower they built in Cols. If they will not provide enough power to reach all the people in an area with HD signal that they CAN get with SD signal, then people have to get that HD signal from somewhere-- cable or satellite.

Wide Open West, the other cable company in Columbus, was recently bought out by another group of investors. First thing they did was ink a deal with Sinclair to try to take subs from TW. You know they paid Sinclair something. And they also screwed themselves. Because when CBS, NBC and WB contracts come up for HD, guess what they will want? "Compensation for our FREE over-the-air signal. You did it for Sinclair!"

Sorry for the rant, but SINCLAIR BROADCASTING is an evil, greedy, bully of a company. I hope TW and any other cable company (or DIRECTV/DISH for that matter) in Sinclair's other 50 or so markets never give in to these people. They suck.