Almost a week after Raycom and Time Warner Cable extendedtheir retransmission consent agreement until Jan. 15, Raycom CEO/President
Paul McTear says he expects the deal to be finalized by next Friday's deadline.
He's waiting to hear back on the "long-form" version of the agreement as it
gets tweaked by the legal people. "There's a lot of wordsmithing going on with
some very smart people," he says. "I'm very, very optimistic it will be signed
on time."
Raycom has stations in eight Time Warner Cable markets.
McTear says the essential facets of the deal are in place.
In terms of Raycom's station business, McTear says he's
cautiously optimistic about the resurgent advertising landscape, including a
heartening uptick in Raycom's national rep business. "There's a long, long way
to go, but there are signs that inventory is tightening," he says.
