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KRCG, Dish can't reach deal: CBS station asked for more money.
(Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 3--Local Dish Network subscribers who want to watch KRCG-TV or CBS programming are now out of luck.
At midnight yesterday, Dish Network pulled the Jefferson City CBS affiliate from its lineup after the two sides failed to finalize a new retransmission agreement. The move affects about 40,000 Columbia-Jefferson City-area households, which now must turn to over-the-air signals or change service providers to get KRCG and CBS programming.
Michael McKenna, director of programming for the Englewood, Colo.-based satellite provider, said Dish Network offers customers in 176 markets their local stations for $4.99 a month. He said a portion of that fee goes to the local broadcaster and the rest pays for infrastructure costs to retransmit the signal.
McKenna said Barrington Broadcasting Group, KRCG's parent company, demanded a bigger share of the $4.99 fee. Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Barrington owns 20 other television stations in addition to KRCG.
"It actually costs us money over and above the $4.99 fee to deliver the signal," McKenna said. "We are willing to pay what is reasonable in the market ... but we aren't willing to pay an unreasonable amount."
Leo Henning, a Barrington regional vice president, could not be reached for comment this morning. In a statement yesterday, Henning said federal law permits local stations to negotiate with providers for the right to retransmit their signals.
"Dish Network provides KRCG to their subscribers for a monthly fee. The station receives only pennies in this transaction," the statement said. "KRCG merely seeks value consistent with how other TV stations are already compensated."
McKenna said the sticking point in the negotiations is Barrington's attempt "to leverage KRCG to orchestrate other deals with their stations throughout the country."
Randy Wright, executive vice president of JW Broadcasting and general manager of KMIZ-TV, said the situation likely will be a temporary disruption.
"It will be resolved ... because it's not good for anyone," he said.
Wright said it's easy for people to change their cable service or satellite service, and by being removed from Dish Network, KRCG is losing access to thousands of viewers, which translates into lost advertising revenue.
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Copyright (c) 2008, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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