More than 6 million customers of Charter Communications’ Spectrum pay-TV service are swept up in the latest fee dispute between the cable TV company and Tribune Media.
Charter Communications and Tribune Media, which carries WGN America programming, have spent nearly two weeks in a standoff over Tribune Media’s proposed fee increase for programming it provides for Spectrum pay-TV packages. The companies failed to reach an agreement on a new distribution deal by Jan. 2, leading to a blackout of WGN channels.
Locally, WGN carries shows such as “Last Man Standing,” “Blue Bloods” and “In the Heat of the Night.”
The number of households affected in Maine is unknown because Charter does not reveal details of its customer base. Municipal officials, however, received letters from Spectrum notifying them of the blackout of WGN shows in their communities.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, “Spectrum’s agreement to carry Tribune’s channels expired. As a result, WGN America and all associated Video On Demand content are no longer available to Spectrum customers,” said the letter written by Shelley Winchenbach, director of government affairs for Charter Communications.
In recent years, TV station blackouts have become more common as pay-TV distributors, including Charter, struggle to rein in programming costs, and negotiations over programming deals become more contentious. In this case, Tribune Media has been demanding that Charter pay higher fees for the rights to retransmit the signals of 33 Tribune TV stations in Charter Spectrum markets.
The companies said negotiations are continuing.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
-
PoliticsHow Maine’s members of Congress voted last week
-
Arts & Entertainment
York musician Harvey Reid knows the value of the troubadour. He wrote the book on it.
-
Green Plate Special
Green Plate Special: Trendy sugar substitute has many benefits, but one big drawback
-
Arts & Entertainment
Painter makes home, and art, in Phippsburg fishing village
-
Bill Nemitz
Bill Nemitz: Once a Maine wunderkind, now a Trump crony
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi {SUB NAME}, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have one? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.