According to reports, negotiations came down to the wire between satellite MVPD Dish Network and Fox WCCB-TV in Charlotte NC. But a new retransmission deal was agreed to before the old one expired, with no disruption of service to local Dish subscribers.
WCCB station manager Jim White told the Charlotte Observer, “All weekend long, we were in discussion with them. It came down to the last minute.”
The Charlotte DMA encompasses some 22 counties, and Dish is said to serve in the neighborhood of 100K subscribers in the market.
The NAB notes that hardball negotiations that actually do result in a disruption of service have amounted to 0.01% of total viewing hours going back to 2006. The same cannot be said for viewing disruptions resulting from electrical or cable company malfunctions.
WCCB is owned by Bahakel Communications.
RBR-TVBR observation: WCCB certainly wants to be carried by Dish, and Dish certainly wants WCCB in its lineup. The open negotiation process allows the two companies to find the fair price – and in this case, as in almost all cases, that price was found without any loss of service. The system is not broken, and does not require an FCC fix.
