Cable One, LIN Continue Retransmission Negotiations

[cablewithaview]

Parties Face Saturday Night Deadline Over Carriage Fox Affiliate In Santa Fe
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 12/14/2007 6:31:00 AM

Negotiations between Cable One and LIN TV Corp. were expected to continue today as the parties try to reach an accord on retransmission consent and avert the Fox affiliate in Santa Fe, N.M. from going dark this Sunday.

The carriage deal for KASA-TV, the Fox affiliate in Santa Fe, expires after Dec. 15, with the parties disconnecting over the station owner’s intent to receive money for its signal.

A spokeswoman for the operator and LIN held talks on Thursday and “we expect to meet this [Friday] morning. We’re hopeful we can get a deal.”

LIN TV executive vice president digital media Gregory Schmidt said the parties have been negotiating for several months and “we’re still talking.”

LIN issued a press release Thursday in which it stated that it anticipates Cable One will discontinue carriage of KASA after Dec. 15, noting area viewers would lose access to a ton of pro and college football programming in the weeks ahead, not to mention other Fox fare and the area’s only 9 p.m. local news telecast.

Schmidt in an interview said LIN last year had reached an agreement with Cable One for its station KRQE, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque.

He emphasized that cash compensation for retransmission consent is an “essential part of broadcasters’ future. Most cable operators understand that.” He declined to comment on how much compensation LIN was seeking for KASA-TV or what terms were reached with Cable One for KRQE.


Cable One, LIN Continue Retransmission Negotiations - 12/14/2007 6:31:00 AM - Multichannel News

[cablewithaview]

LIN TV, Cable One Reach Short-Term Pact
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/17/2007 11:18:00 AM

LIN TV and Cable One reached a “short-term” agreement late Friday night, according to a spokeswoman, that kept LIN’s KASA Albuquerque, N.M., on the air.

LIN had threatened to pull the station’s signal when its carriage deal with Cable One expired Dec. 15.

The spokeswoman said the short-term agreement would hold over until both parties come to terms for a full contract. She added that signing the contract was essentially a formality and it did not appear that the signal would be pulled any time soon.

Terms of the deal -- such as whether it involved Cable One paying the broadcaster cash -- were not disclosed. LIN executive vice president of digital media Gregory M. Schmidt had been pushing for a cash transaction last week. “Cable One continues to pay money to niche cable programmers with substantially less viewing,” he said.


KASA Stays On-Air After Retransmission-Consent Agreement - 12/17/2007 11:18:00 AM - Broadcasting & Cable