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Some Cable Customers May Lose WEAR 3
December 23, 2009
Some cable TV customers — including those in Atmore — may not be able to watch WEAR TV 3 after the end of the year.
Dancing with the Stars, Nightline, Jimmy Kimmel, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Ugly Betty and even the January 7 Texas versus Alabama game may be lost (LOST — that’s another ABC show) for Mediacom cable television customers. WEAR’s local news — Sue Straughn, Bob Solarski, Dan Shugart and Alan Strum — will also be dark on the cable provider.
The current agreement between Sinclair Broadcasting, the parent company of WEAR, and Mediacom is set to expire on New Year’s Eve. The agreement spells out how much Mediacom pays Sinclair for the rights to carry stations like WEAR on their cable system.
A similar impasse in 2007 left about 100,000 Mediacom customers without WEAR — including cable customers in Atmore.
“Although we have tried very hard to reach agreement with Mediacom for a new deal to replace the one that expires at the end of this year, it does not appear that such efforts will be successful,” Terry Cole, general manager of WEAR said in a written statement on the station’s website.
WEAR will continue to be available for free over the air with an antenna, or from DirectTV or Dish Network. “If you are a Mediacom subscriber, we hope you will take advantage of these alternative sources for our programming,” Cole said.
The other cable television companies that serve residents in Flomaton, Jay, Cantonment and most of Pensacola are not planning to drop WEAR.
Comments
5 Responses to “Some Cable Customers May Lose WEAR 3”
I agree with Jack……..AMEN to that brother
You are not losing much if you lose Channel 3. Watch sports, or History, there are many alternatives that dont have so many shows that feature NON-FAMILY values. It is just garbage, and way too much of it is on when children are up and watching. How about turning off your TV and learning something about the people you live with …. especially during this holiday season.
I’m glad I’m with DishNetwork. I don’t have to worry about any of this.
I’m not a fan of “bundling” either. I figure if you have a problem with one thing, such as a storm, it will effect the others. I don’t like to put all of my eggs in one basket, so to speak.
This affects me as a Bright House customer also because I have to see all the scrolls across the bottom of my screen while I am viewing WEAR. What Sinclair does not seem to understand is that ADVERTISERS pay them money to broadcast their commercials into the homes of CONSUMERS. On a local level, if car dealership ads (or jewelry stores, specialty stores, seafood markets, etc.) are not getting into the homes of the customers, then it would seem that the local advertisers would be wasting their advertising dollars with WEAR and thus might choose to place that money with a station that is received by consumers. An antenna is inconvenient to have to switch back and forth when all other channels are received on cable and “rain fade” is an issue with satellite.
Dear Mediacom Customer:
Sinclair Broadcast Group is the owner of the Mobile, AL-Pensacola, FL based ABC station, WEAR and MNT station, WFGX. Three years ago, following a very nasty public dispute, Mediacom reluctantly agreed to pay an exorbitant amount to Sinclair to continue providing WEAR and WFGX to our customers.
Well, the bully is back. Sinclair is once again using scare tactics to try and force Mediacom to pay more than double what we agreed to pay in 2007. Despite the negative ads you may be seeing on WEAR and WFGX, no channel can be dropped by Sinclair until 2010. Sinclair is simply using these ads in an attempt to coerce Mediacom and, ultimately, you, the consumer, into paying higher rates.
We understand that the holidays are a busy time of year, and the last thing you want to think about is losing any TV channels. We agree with you, and have asked the Federal Communications Commission to block Sinclair from dropping WEAR and WFGX while the parties sort out their differences before the FCC.
Rest assured that we are taking every possible step to ensure that you, our customers, will continue to be able to view WEAR and WFGX programming at a reasonable price, so please bear with us as we negotiate this difficult path.
As always, thank you for your loyalty and have a wonderful, happy and healthy Holiday season.
Sincerely,
John Pascarelli
Executive Vice President
Mediacom Communications