http://www.tvpredictions.com/dlose122610.htm
<span class="h2"><font color="#000000" face="Arial" size="5">DIRECTV Could Lose 40 Local TV Stations</font><font color="#000000" face="Arial"><font size="5">
</font>
<font size="2">By Swanni</font><font size="3">
</font></font></span><font color="#000000" size="2">
Washington, D.C. (December 26,
2010)<span style="font-weight: 400;"> -- DIRECTV could lose the
right to air as many as 40 Raycom-owned local TV stations at the
end of the year due to a programming fee fight.
The Raycom impasse is the latest carriage headache for DIRECTV
as the year comes to a close. </span><font face="Arial">
<font color="#800000">Hearst Television</font></font><span style="font-weight: 400;">
is warning that DIRECTV will lose the right to carry roughly 30
of its local stations on January 1 if the two companies don't
reach a new programming pact by then.
And DIRECTV is negotiating with the Comcast-owned </span>
<font face="Arial">
<font color="#800000">Golf Channel </font></font><span style="font-weight: 400;">
to keep it on the air. The satcaster's current agreement with
the Golf Channel also expires at the end of the year.
The Raycom blackout could extend to such major markets as Tucson
(CBS affiliate) Cleveland (CBS affiliate) and Charlotte, North
Carolina (CBS affiliate). Raycom owns roughly 40 local TV
stations, but it's unclear if each station would be affected by
this impasse.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that DIRECTV is claiming that its
agreement with Raycom will renew automatically at the end of the
year and that its customers will not lose any local channels.
But several Raycom-owned stations, including WOLD in Tucson,
WBTV in Charlotte and WOIO in Cleveland, today are running
notices at their web sites alerting DIRECTV viewers that their
signals could go dark at the end of the week.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that DIRECTV and Raycom met
Thursday to discuss a new agreement, but no deal has been
reached. The current pact will expire on December 31.
A Raycom spokesman tells the newspaper that DIRECTV would likely
lose the local Raycom stations if a new deal is not signed by
the end of the year.</span></font>