Verizon loses stations in Albany, Syracuse, Harrisburg in retransmission dispute

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV subscribers in parts of upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania that tuned to a handful of ABC, CBS and Fox stations Friday morning for news about a winter storm were greeted with message that said the stations had been removed because of a contract dispute. After its retransmission-consent agreement with station group owner Newport Television expired at midnight, Verizon lost the feeds for ABC affiliate WSYR-TV in Syracuse, Fox affiliate WXXA-TV in Albany, and stations carrying CBS, MyNetwork TV and The CW programming in Harrisburg, Pa.

New York and Pennsylvania viewers saw this message on Newport-owned stations

The spat with Newport may mark the first time that Verizon has lost channels for FiOS TV because of a retransmission-consent dispute with a local broadcaster. Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI) had threatened to pull its stations in Baltimore and Pittsburgh from Verizon in December, but the companies reached a last-minute deal that averted a blackout.

Verizon says that Newport has turned down its offers for a new contract. On a statement posted on Newport's ABC affiliate in Syracuse, the company said that has reached deals with all other cable and satellite providers in the market.

The dispute could drive some FiOS TV subscribers in Syracuse and Albany to incumbent cable MSO Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) or to Harrisburg operator Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), depending upon how long the channels remain off of the FiOS TV lineup.

DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) and Time Warner Cable are also waging retransmission-consent battles with broadcasters in local markets. DirecTV could lose the feeds from Fox affiliates in Boston and Miami at midnight tonight because of a dispute with station group owner Sunbeam Television.

Time Warner Cable has gone about month without the feed from Corpus Christi, Texas-based NBC affiliate KRIS-TV. Station owner Cordillera Communications filed a complaint with the FCC this week in which it argues that the MSO isn't negotiating in good faith.

For more:
- The Post-Standard has this story
- Corpus Christi Caller Times has this story
- The Miami Herald has this story

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