Broadcasters Pushing for Additional Station Language in Retrans Talks, Mediacom Says

of contention in recent retrans talks between the cable company and an unidentified large broadcast station owner. Mediacom said the provision would require that if that owner buys or obtains authority to negotiate retrans consent on behalf of any station licensed to a designated market area served by the multichannel video programming distributor, "then if Station Owner so elects, this Agreement shall be expanded to include such broadcast television station as a 'Station' for all purposes of this Agreement and any pre-existing retransmission consent agreement of MVPD with respect to such Additional Station shall terminate with respect to the carriage of such Additional Station." Other broadcasters have pushed MVPDs for similar language, said Mediacom, which urged the FCC to include such provisions in its look at the totality of circumstances test (see 1602040041). The quoted provision is a far cry from most-favored nation language, as NAB had claimed, Mediacom said, adding it "also is much different from provisions that, historically, broadcasters have used to bring under their retransmission consent agreements those stations which they do not have de jure control but over which they exercise extensive management authority." The "additional stations" language refers to when a broadcaster's retrans deal with a pay-TV company lets the broadcaster expand the deal to include any stations it acquires during the pendency of the contract. In a statement, NAB said, "Mediacom’s lonewolf conspiracy tale is exactly what one expects from the most shrill voice in pay TV. You can’t put horns on a poodle, call it the devil and expect people to believe you. We’re confident the FCC will see through this transparent ploy.”