Retransmission dispute ended by Tribune, Charter deal

The dispute over retransmission fees between Tribune Broadcasting and Charter Communications has been resolved, officials with the two companies said Friday, ending a nine-day blackout of local television stations, including Fox 61 and WCCT that are owned by the Chicago-based broadcast giant on Spectrum cable systems.

Terms of the settlement between Tribune Broadcasting and Stamfordbased Charter were not released. The agreement also allows for the return of WGN America to Charter’s cable systems, which operate under the Spectrum brand name.

Not knowing the terms of the settlement means Charter subscribers won’t know what kind of impact the agreement will have on their monthly cable bills.

Keeping that kind of information secret is a mistake, said Rich Hanley, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.

“Considering the rate at which cable companies are losing subscribers, it would be in their best interest to be as transparent as possible and let people know what the agreement will mean to their cable bills,” Hanley said.

“It’s part of their negotiating tactics not to let other programming provider know what another is paying, but there are no secrets in the television business. The reason not to release that kind of information is ego, because it will show how shallow both sides are, arguing over a few pennies more per month per subscriber.”

Charter, headquartered in Stamford, operates two cable systems covering 30 communities, including towns in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties.

Tribune’s stations were removed from Charter’s cable systems at 5 p.m Jan. 3. The previous contract had been scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31; the two sides decided to extend the deadline for the removal of the channels by two days.

The settlement comes just in time to ensure that professional football fans won’t miss this weekend’s games in the divisional round of the National Football League playoffs.

Two of the four games — Saturday’s match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams and Sunday’s contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints — will be covered by Fox, according to the network’s schedule.

The retransmission deal between the two companies covers 33 local television stations in 24 markets, according to Tribune Media officials. It also covers Charter’s ability to carry the WGN America Cable Network.

In all, the shutdown of Tribune Media programming on Charter’s Spectrum cable affected 6 million viewers, according to Tribune officials.