The FCC's Media Bureau dismissed Mediacom's retransmission
consent complaint against Sinclair on Wednesday (Jan. 13).
Mediacom asked the FCC to do so after it announced Jan. 7 it
had come to terms with Sinclair on a new carriage deal. Mediacom had complained
that Sinclair was not bargaining in good faith.
The complaint was dismissed with prejudice, which means that
Mediacom can't bring the same claim again. Mediacom had asked for that to be
the case, but it does not mean the company is happy with the retrans process.
In the wake of their retrans battle, Mediacom Chairman Rocco
Commisso talked generally about "broadcasters engaging in economic
blackmail," and has already told Senate Communications Subcommittee
Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) Mediacom is all for an effort to reform retrans.
Kerry has said he plans to look into the process to try and
prevent the threat of viewers losing access to college bowl games and other
must-have programming.
