Business & Tech

Blackout of WTMJ on Time Warner Continues

WTMJ 4 has been dropped from the Time Warner line-up because of a contract dispute.

The blackout of WTMJ Channel 4 on Time Warner Cable continues into a fifth day after parties on both sides failed to reach agreement on a new contract.

From the cable company's perspective, Journal Broadcasting, the parent company of WTMJ, is the party unwilling to bend while Journal Broadcasting is accusing the cable provider of not caring about its local customers.

On July 25, TWC posted this on the company's website:

We will work hard to bring Journal’s channels back to our customers’ lineup. Journal’s suggestion that we’re not at the negotiating table is preposterous. Journal is fully aware that we have been and continue to be available to negotiate and that we are looking out for our customers. 

Journal Broadcasting countered by saying:

It seems Time Warner cares more about big city viewers than you. Journal requested an extension to July 31. Time Warner rejected it. 

There's even more back-and-forth over who pulled what programming. TWC contends that Journal Broadcasting pulled their stations from the provider:

Unfortunately, Journal Broadcast Group, the owner of several local television stations, has decided to pull the remainder of their channels from Time Warner Cable customers, blacking out hundreds of thousands of households across the country.

Journal Broadcasting places the blame on Time Warner:

The deadline has passed for a resolution between Journal Broadcast Group and Time Warner Cable.  If you’re reading this, then Time Warner Cable has exercised its option to take down our stations.

While the blackout might just be annoying for now, come Aug. 9 the situation gets a little more serious. The Green Bay Packers play the Arizona Cardinals in a pre-season game scheduled to air on NBC, according to The Journal Times.

Watching the game could get "challenging," the newspaper notes, if the companies can't reach an agreement before kick-off.

Viewers in Racine County can still view NBC programming on WMAQ Channel 5 out of Chicago, but for local news, they can visit the WTMJ website or other local news stations.

Additional Wisconsin markets affected by the local NBC affiliate blackout include Green Bay and Appleton.

TWC is also in contract negotiations with CBS affiliates across the country, some of which have already resulted in blackouts. In July 2012, viewers in Southeast Wisconsin went 10 days without WISN Channel 12 because the parties couldn't agree on retransmission carriage fees. 


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