Charter Finalizes LIN Retrans Pact

Cable operator, TV-station group reached tentative retransmission-consent deal in mid-June.

By Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/2/2008 7:13:00 AM

Charter Communications completed a broadcast-TV-station retransmission-consent deal Tuesday with LIN TV after negotiations stalemated one month ago.

The announcement came one day after a LIN carriage deal expired and represents a trend of avoiding channel blackouts, which erupted sporadically in such broadcast-cable negotiations from 2005-07.

No terms were disclosed, which is customary in such deals where multichannel-TV platforms such as cable systems pay broadcasters for retransmission rights of their stations. The agreement covers LIN’s analog and digital signals.

“We look forward to expanding our high-definition programming with LIN TV stations in many of these communities,” Ted Schremp, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Charter, said in a statement.

Charter will carry LIN stations in the following markets: Grand Rapids, Mich.; Green Bay, Wis.; Hartford-New Haven, Conn.; Springfield, Mass.; Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; Providence, R.I.; and Norfolk, Va.

“We look forward to broadening and deepening this relationship as we move together into the digital future.” LIN TV executive VP of digital media Gregory M. Schmidt said in a statement.

Two weeks after LIN said an impasse made an amicable deal unlikely, Charter announced in mid-June that it concluded an agreement in principle, although that fell short of a final deal like the one announced Tuesday.