Sinclair/Mediacom Retransmission Disputes
At midnight on January 6, 2007, Sinclair pulled KDSM from Mediacom systems in Central Iowa, including those in Des Moines and Ames, as part of Mediacom's ongoing retransmission dispute with Sinclair. As a result, KDSM began offering $150 rebates (payable as $10 monthly bill credits) for Mediacom subscribers to switch to DirecTV during that time period. Mediacom offered free dipole antennas to subscribers and aired programming from other cable networks in KDSM's place during the impasse. The dispute also affected KFXA in Cedar Rapids, which is operated by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement. It attracted attention from lawmakers in Iowa and in Washington, D.C.. Finally, on February 2, Mediacom announced that it had signed a retransmission consent agreement with Sinclair. KDSM was restored to cable systems shortly after the announcement.
The dispute was renewed in late-2009 and threatened to have the station removed from Mediacom once again. The deal that was reached in 2007 expired on December 31, 2009. As before, the dispute affected KFXA as well. Mediacom is the largest cable company in Iowa, and the dispute would have left more than half the state unable to watch the 2010 Orange Bowl set to air on Fox with local favorite Iowa Hawkeyes football team playing the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. On December 31, Sinclair and Mediacom agreed to an extension of the retransmission contract until January 8, 2010; thus averting a blackout of the Orange Bowl on cable systems. A week later, the two sides agreed to a one-year retransmission agreement.
Read more about this topic: KDSM-TV
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