/ 01.18.2011 12:00AM
Reports: Sinclair and Time Warner Reach Tentative Deal
HUNT VALLEY, MD., and NEW YORK:
Sinclair and Time Warner Cable have reached a preliminary retransmission
agreement, several news outlets reported over the weekend. The two have been in a
retrans stand-off for weeks over a carriage contract for 28 Sinclair TV
stations that expired Dec. 31, 2010. Negotiations were ultimately extended
through Saturday, when an agreement in principle was reached, according to Bloomberg.
The news service says the existing retrans agreement between the two will
be left in place through Feb. 21 while the new one is hammered out.
Though the negotiations went into overtime, Sinclair did not publicly threaten
to pull station signals from Time Warner systems, most likely because the cable
operator secured permission to carry alternative network feeds for ABC, NBC,
CBS and Fox.
Shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ: SBGI) initially dropped on the news of the
tentative agreement, from an open of $8 to below $7.90, but recovered by early
afternoon.
-- Deborah D. McAdams