A National Issue

The skyrocketing cost of programming is a real issue and it effects every company that provides TV entertainment today. See what has happened nationally and what other companies are doing to fight back.

GCI will cut AMC Networks, Univision in 2016

Anchorage-based telecommunications company GCI said Monday that it will drop AMC Networks and Univision in 2016 because of price hikes from both of those networks. GCI, the largest cable provider in Alaska, said in a press release that AMC Networks proposed “an almost 200 percent cost increase for all the network’s channels as a condition of carrying AMC.”
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AMC Takes Aim at Skinny Bundles in Cable Carriage Fight

AMC Networks Inc. is demanding that . . . small cable providers, pay on behalf of all its subscribers—whether or not they actually receive AMC and its sister channels in their cable packages. AMC is still demanding that all its networks reach a high proportion of subscribers so that it doesn’t lose out on viewership and ad revenue.
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AMC Networks CEO: TV Industry Needs “Greater Accountability"

The era of the participation trophy is coming to a close, at least in the TV industry, where consumers appear tired of paying for a bundle of a few hundred channels while watching only about 17 of them.
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Eagle Communications: A local television provider that refuses to let customers be bullied by big networks

“We will not be bullied by big networks forcing unreasonable demands on our customers.” Eagle maintains the fact that they continue to work to keep costs low to the end consumer and don’t believe a network with one popular show should hijack a consumer’s budget for that one show.
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Dish Loses 129 Sinclair Stations in Biggest TV Blackout Ever

Dish said the companies had reached an agreement on rates and all other terms for the carriage of the Sinclair local stations, but that Sinclair demanded the satcaster pull its signals anyway.
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Cablevision close to settling bundling suit with Viacom, report says

Cablevision is alleging that Viacom was “illegally forcing Cablevision to carry and pay for 14 lesser-watched ancillary networks its customers do not want, such as Palladia, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic, in order to carry must-have networks such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central.”
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Here comes the biggest DC fight yet over retransmission consent

The fight is really a simple one, but the stakes are high. Just follow the money. Broadcasters get billions from pay TV distributors to distribute their signals.
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An Impasse on NBC

NBC viewers across Southern Colorado were left in the dark after a contract between DirecTV and Cordillera Communications came to an unresolved end on January 1.
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NBC threatens blackout of Cable One

NBCUniversal has threatened to block out its broadcast network and 10 cable channels on Cable One if a renewal deal isn’t in place by New Year’s Day.
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RCN is one of the very best companies in America! Every time I interact with RCN, I come away a happier customer! Thanks!

Patrick, Washington, DC