WCBI-TV and DirecTV expect a new contract soon for satellite carry of the local CBS affiliate, spokesmen for both companies said Wednesday afternoon.
And the proverbial clock is ticking.
For the past several weeks, DirecTV customers have watched a crawl across WCBI’s screen informing them the station is negotiating a new contract and subscribers may lose the channel if a contract isn’t completed by Saturday. The station’s website also includes a similar notice.
“The last thing we want is viewer interruption,” Dean Hinson, president of Morris network, said.
WCBI is owned by Morris Multimedia Inc. in Savannah, Ga.
“Negotiations are going very well. We feel very confident about it,” he said.
DirecTV is in contract negotiations with Morris for several of its stations, DirecTV spokesman Tom Tyrer said.
DirecTV is based in Los Angeles. The two companies have enjoyed a good relationship, Tyrer said, and he expects that to continue.
Morris is in a three-year contract with DirecTV and is negotiating for a new three-year contract for the satellite provider to carry its stations’ programming, Hinson said.
The need for contracts began when Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Tyrer explained. It included a provision that local stations could be carried by cable and satellite providers. The act also covers the new media option of telephone feeds.
Local stations have two options, he said. They can exercise the must-carry option, which means the distributor carries programming without paying the local stations. Or, local stations can exercise the retransmisson consent option, which means the distributor pays the local station a fee to carry its programming.
“We have no problem compensating Morris fairly,” Tyrer said.
As for the looming deadline, Tyrer said DirecTV will not shut off the station at midnight.
“We do not take the station down until they specifically demand that we do,” he said.
Contract renewal is a necessary nuisance, Hinson said, and the Federal Communications Commission requires the station to alert customers of any changes.
Tyrer said customers may get confused when stations post contract announcements.
“We always prefer to keep these business matters and negotiations private,” he said.
The negotiations do not affect WCBI’s programming via Dish Network, Cable One, Comcast and Metrocast.
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