ABC affiliate threatens to pull feed from Verizon FiOS TV subscribers

Syracuse, N.Y.-based ABC affiliate WSYR-TV says it will pull its feed from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV customers on Thursday unless the telco agrees to terms of a new retransmission-consent agreement.

The station, which is owned by Newport Television, says that it is talking to Verizon, but not optimistic about reaching a deal. "Based on the current status of those discussions, we do not believe Verizon FiOS TV will be carrying NewsChannel 9 WSYR-TV after January 12," WSYR wrote in a message posted on its Website Tuesday.

WSYR says it has retransmission-consent deals with upstate New York incumbent cable provider Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), along with DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) and Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH).

The Newport Television standoff marks the second retransmission-consent dispute that Verizon has faced in recent weeks. In December, Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI) threatened to pull the feeds from its stations from FiOS customers in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. But the companies reached a last-minute deal, avoiding a blackout.

Verizon launched FiOS TV in 2005. With some of the initial retransmission-consent agreements it struck with broadcasters coming up for renewal, the telco could face similar standoffs in other local markets.

For more:
- see statement from WSYR
- The Post-Standard has this story

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