Bob_Grip's Blog

I wanted to give you an update on negotiations with Bright House cable, which no longer has the right to carry the programs you love on Fox 10 and the Gulf Coast CW.

LIN Broadcasting (which owns and operates our two stations) is still negotiating and we hope for a fair resolution. You need to know that WALA/WBPG aren't the only TV stations asking for fair market value, as many people believe. In fact, all broadcasters are asking for compensation and nearly all cable companies, large and small, understand that they have to share subscriber fees with local TV stations, just as they do with cable networks. Time Warner, which negotiates on behalf of Bright House, is about to engage in many other retransmission disputes, while LIN TV has already reached all its deals.

Think of it this way.  Time Warner is charging its customers for a product or service it doesn't pay to receive.

Time Warner's main argument is that we should be free since our local broadcast signal is free to folks with an antenna. But there is no way it should be free to the second largest cable company in the nation that makes a lot of money re-selling the programming of local broadcasters!

Despite the tough economic climate, our company invests heavily in our news, our programming and in our local community. Again - other cable companies recognize that and partner with us. When we partner, everyone wins.