Did Fox Throw Affiliates Under the Bus in Retrans Deal?

By Andrew Gauthier 

Mediaweek

Retransmission consent negotiations may never be the same.

A deal struck last January between Time Warner Cable and News Corp. included a precedent-setting condition to allow TWC to carry Fox’s network programming if retransmission negotiations with Fox affiliates break down. Many TV execs likened Fox’s move to throwing its non-owned Fox affiliates under the bus.

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Just how much leverage Fox affiliates could lose in retransmission negotiations is getting tested right now as Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest Fox affiliate group with 20 Fox affiliates, and TWC try and hammer out a deal before the current one expires at the end of the year. In the case of Sinclair, negotiations will center on the value of the local news or syndicated line up. More…

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