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Stalled negotiations between a local television station and a cable provider shouldn’t leave thousands of Iowans unable to watch the University of Iowa football team compete in the Orange Bowl, according to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley.
Braley, a Democrat who represents Iowa’s 1st District, has sent a letter to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to encourage the agency to step up if conversations between Cedar Rapids-based KGAN/FOX 28, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, and Mediacom Communications Corp. fall through.
“The transition to digital television has placed a substantial number of my constituents in a situation where they rely on the cable that they subscribe to and lack the necessary hardware to receive digital terrestrial broadcasts,” Braley wrote. “This is particularly true of low income Iowans and the elderly, who rely on Mediacom to convert older analog-only televisions.”
On Dec. 31 the current rebroadcast agreement between Sinclair and Mediacom will expire. That existing agreement was reached following several weeks of Mediacom not carrying Sinclair’s signal during late 2007. Local broadcasters, during the Wednesday evening news, said that a deal is not expected to be reached between Sinclair and Mediacom prior to the Jan. 5 Orange Bowl that features the Iowa Hawkeyes against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and that it was unknown of negotiations would be successful prior to the Feb. 7 broadcast of the Super Bowl. The news team suggested that Mediacom customers register their dissatisfaction with their cable company and/or sign up for a competing service.
“I do not write to ask the FCC to take sides in this contentious negotiation,” Braley wrote. “Rather, I ask that the FCC step in and take the appropriate actions to protect the public interest in the event that Mediacom and Sinclair are unable to come to terms on a retransmission consent agreement. At a minimum, the FCC should authorize interim carriage of the stations while the parties sort out their differences. As an addition or an alternative, the FCC should consider ordering the parties to submit to binding arbitration if no arms length agreement can be reached. Most importantly the interests of the public must come first.
“Sporting events such as the Orange Bowl and the Super Bowl should not be taken hostage during a contentious negotiation like this. The FCC should step in and use its authority to prevent any interruption in broadcast service during this round of negotiations between the two parties.”
Braley also joined with other members of the Iowa delegation to send a letter to Genachowski on Nov. 23.
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