WPIX Blacked Out On Cablevision

WPIX-TV New York and several other Tribune-owned stations have gone dark on the Cablevision system amid a dispute over retransmission fees.

Cablevision said in a statement Friday that Tribune and its hedge fund owners were “demanding tens of millions in new fees from WPIX and other stations they own.”

It called on the company to stop its “anti-consumer demands and work productively to reach an agreement.”

The Tribune Broadcasting Company said the blackout happened in the middle of negotiations. It said it occurred despite its “unconditional offer to extend the current retransmission agreement with no change in its terms.”

The other stations that went dark on Friday are: WCCT, carried in parts of Connecticut; KWGN in some Optimum West markets; and WPHL in parts of New Jersey.

Both companies have dealt with transmission fee issues already this year. Tribune channels were blacked out by DirectTV  while Cablevision blocked WABC from its system.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)