Sunbeam/DirecTV dispute costs Miami Fox affiliate

[BLeonard]

http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbsspor...75988/34367397

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In addition, the Sunbeam dispute has caused the NBC affiliate in the Boston area to be blacked out. That's not nearly as bad for football, of course, but it's not exactly good news either.

The technical difficulties aren't technical, though. They're financial -- Sunbeam and DirecTV can't reach an agreement on the cost for retransmission fees.

"There is always one outlier, like Sunbeam, who has no problem committing an unthinkable abuse of the public trust in an effort to shake down an excessive financial arrangement for themselves," said Derek Chang, executive vice president of Programming for DIRECTV said in a statement released by DirecTV. "We have no problem compensating Sunbeam fairly, but we have to take a stand against runaway greed and a shameless attempt to extort a more than 300 percent fee increase that our customers risk having to absorb. Sunbeam has completely disregarded its obligations to the public, NFL fans and hundreds of thousands of our loyal customers."

-Bill

[BLeonard]

Another article on it, from a few days ago: http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/tv/201...n-directv.html

A retransmission consent dispute between Fox affiliate WSVN-Ch. 7 and the satellite program distributor could knock all WSVN programming, including the Fox network, off homes with DirecTV as of midnight Friday.

In addition to the Saints-49ers game on Saturday and Giants-Packers NFC playoffs on Sunday, the return of “American Idol” next Wednesday and Thursday, is among the major attractions that could be blacked out in DirecTV homes. The AFC playoff games air on CBS and are not effected.

Before you head out to a local sports bar, it would be advisable to check if it is a DirecTV customer. Many are because DirecTV provides the NFL package, which includes all games every Sunday. If you still have a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears, it will be possible to receive WSVN over the air.

WFLX-Ch. 29, the Fox affiliate in Palm Beach, is not involved, so programming will continue uninterrupted.

Retransmission consent gives local stations the right to negotiate a fee with cable and satellite program providers to carry their station. The WSVN negotiations also involve sister stations in Boston WHDH, which are owned under the Sunbeam Television umbrella.

So, after all these technological advances for TV, because stations and programming distributors can't make a deal, people have to go back to *******ing rabbit ears, in order to see a ballgame...

-Bill