Some 1.5 million subscribers in cities like Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and Green Bay, Wisconsin, will not receive free-to-air broadcast local affiliate stations of General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) NBC affiliate, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS-A) Fox and CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) namesake network after Time Warner Cable's agreement with LIN TV, which has reached retransmission agreements with Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), DIRECTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV), and Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), ended.
At dispute between Time Warner Cable and LIN TV is the long-simmering issue of retransmission rights. Broadcasters like LIN TV and Sinclair Broadcasting have started demanding cash payments from cable and satellite operators to carry their broadcast stations.
Previously, broadcasters have negotiated noncash agreements in exchange for payment to carry a broadcaster's cable networks. The broadcasters' primary revenue stream is advertising, which has begun to shrink in recent years and has been further exacerbated by the ongoing economic downturn.
Time Warner Cable said LIN TV is demanding that its customers pay a monthly fee to watch the channel and said it has never charged for broadcast programming. Both Time Warner Cable and LIN TV said subscribers would be able to watch the broadcast channels, if they had "rabbit ear" antennas to receive the signals.
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