If you watch WTNH or WCTX-59 (MyTV 9) you’ve seen the crawls indicating a battle over carriage fees. More from the New Haven Register’s Joe Amarante:
Cheshire, Meriden and Southington cable TV viewers will lose WTNH-8 and WCTX-59 from their lineups at midnight Wednesday unless a deal can be reached with Cox Communications, and both sides of the money squabble are making their cases on live TV.
Cox has run a frequent crawl over the 10 p.m. News 8 show on WCTX, saying the two stations (owned by LIN TV Corp.) want more money in fees for carriage on cable. The stations, meanwhile, ran notices during program breaks urging viewers to call Cox and express their support of the stations.
WTNH General Manager Mark Higgins issued this response to requests for comment Thursday: “Local broadcasters routinely negotiate their contracts with pay-TV providers. We feel it is our duty to inform our viewers when a contract deadline approaches and a new agreement has not yet been reached. Please know that we are working hard to reach a new agreement with Cox Communications so viewers will not lose their local programming.”
We’re told this will also affect Cox subscribers in the Enfield/Windsor area.
Filed under: 1
