Mediacom Unveils Multiple Retrans/Programming Deals

Majority of retrans deals -- including new Sinclair pact -- now in place

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/21/2012 2:01:35 PM

The big headline out of Mediacom this week was its new retrans deal with NBCU that included TV Everywhere online content, but there was more to the story, both in terms of over-the-top and getting over the hump with a number of station agreements.

The twelfth-ranked (according to NCTA) cable operator with more than a million subs, also struck either new or add-on over-the-top content deals with Turner Broadcasting, Big Ten Network and Fox Broadcasting's Fox.com.

Also new is a retrans deal with Sinclair -- notable since Mediacom and Sinclair have had some troubles in the past -- that avoids any eleventh-hour haggling. The deal was up Dec. 31.

With the NBC and Sinclair deals, combined with ones struck over the past several months with Capitol, Citadel, Coronet, Local TV, Media General and Quincy, the company has lined up retrans renewals for the vast majority of station groups with deals coming due, said a source, though there is always a possibility of some down-to-the wire dealing with remaining minority. 

And boosting its Spanish-language content, Mediacom has recently struck deals with Azteca International, Multimedios, Olympusat and others, which will go into a new Spanish-language tier, Mediacom Canales Latinos.