Mediacom Communications Corp. settled its retransmission consent spat with Sinclair Broadcast Group just in time to broadcast the Super Bowl and participate in February sweeps.
Neither company would discuss the details of the deal. Sinclair has always been closed-lipped about the negotiations and Mediacom’s announcement about the resolution was exceedingly terse, noting only that Sinclair stations would return to its line-up.
The argument was costing both companies. For Sinclair, the loss of Mediacom outlets may have cost it as much as 40 percent of its viewership, while some estimated that Mediacom was losing as many as 5,000 customers a week.
The following stations will be immediately restored on the Mediacom cable systems in 12 states: Des Moines/Ames (KDSM-FOX), Cedar Rapids (KGAN-CBS), Mobile-Pensacola (WEAR-ABC/WFGX-MNT), Peoria/Bloomington (WYZZ-FOX), Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (WLOS-ABC/WMYA-MNT), Lexington (WDKY-FOX), Madison (WMSN-FOX), Nashville (WZTV-FOX/ WUXP-MNT/WNAB-CW), Minneapolis (WUCW-CW), Paducah/Cape Girardeau (KBSI-FOX/WDKA-MNT), Springfield/Champaign/Decatur (WICS-ABC/WICD-ABC), St. Louis (KDNL-ABC), Tallahassee (WTWC-NBC), Birmingham (WTTO-CW/WABM-MNT), Norfolk (WTVZ-MNT) and Milwaukee (WCGV-MNT/WVTV-CW).