Despite extending talks for more than a week past the original expiration of their retransmission consent contract, Time Warner Cable and Hearst were unable to come to an agreement by midnight yesterday, leaving 13 stations unavailable on the cable provider today.
“Time Warner Cable has reached hundreds of agreements with other broadcasters without broadcaster blackouts, but Hearst’s demand for a nearly 300% increase is way out of line,” a Time Warner statement released last night reads. “That kind of outrageous increase is unfair to our customers and unsustainable for our business.”
Hearst has statements informing viewers on each respective station’s website.
“Unfortunately, notwithstanding our best efforts to reach a new carriage agreement, we were unable to do so,” the statement on WCVB’s website reads. “We cannot predict if or when discussions with Time Warner will resume or if or when WCVB-TV’s programming will be restored on Time Warner systems.”
Stations affected are KITV in Pittsburgh, WCVB in Boston, WMTW in Portland, ME, WNNE in Hartford, VT, WPTZ in Plattsburg, NY, WXII in Winston-Salem, KCWE-KMBC in Kansas City, KETV in Lincoln, WLKY in Louisville, WLWT in Cincinnatti, WESH in Orlando and KITV in Honolulu.
One Hearst station, WISN in Milwaukee, continues to be carried by Time Warner, according to Multichannel News.