Charter-Sinclair Deal Brings HDTV Home

Washington, D.C. (April 13, 2007) -- Charter Communications has signed an agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting that will provide local channels in High-Definition to viewers in 19 markets.

The carriage agreement, which will run until March 31, 2010, permits Charter to carry both the non-HD and HD signals of 28 Sinclair-owned local stations. The Sinclair stations reach approximately 1.9 million Charter cable subscribers.

For some cable viewers, they will be able to watch certain local channels in high-def for the first time. For instance, St. Louis residents will now get the high-def feed of KDNL, the ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair there.

__________________________________________

____________________________________________

Charter officials said the deal will finally enable the cable operator to offer more HD programming.

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement with Sinclair that provides us the right to continue to deliver programming offered by Sinclair's owned or operated stations, and gives us the opportunity to expand High-Definition programming to our customers," Cathy Fogler, Charter's vice president of video programming, said in a statement.

Sinclair and Charter have been at an impasse over the carriage of the local signals because the broadcaster wanted compensation. By law, a TV provider can not offer a local channel without its permission.

No financial terms were released in the announcement.

Here are the Sinclair stations affected by yesterday's agreement:

Asheville, NC/Anderson, SC: WLOS/WMYA Birmingham, AL: WABM/WTTO Cape Girardeau, MO/Paducah, KY: WDKA/KBSI Cedar Rapids, IA: KGAN Columbus, OH: WSYX/WTTE Dayton, OH: WKEF Flint, MI: WSMH Greensboro/High Point/Winston Salem, NC: WXLV Madison, WI: WMSN Milwaukee, WI: WCGV/WVTV Minneapolis, MN: WUCW Nashville, TN: WZTV/WUXP/WNAB Norfolk, VA: WTVZ Raleigh, NC: WLFL/WRDC Richmond, VA: WRLH Springfield. MA: WGGB Springfield/Champaign, IL: WICS/WICD St. Louis, MO: KDNL Tallahassee, FL: WTWC.

Click TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni Sez.

© TVPredictions.com
____________________________________________
Advertisement

_______________________________________________________

Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

Click TVPredictions.com to read more news and features on TV technology.