The LIN Broadcasting Compnay owned stations have a history of playing hardnose with DBS companies when it comes to allowing retransmission of their digital channels. When I asked our local LIN owned station why their ATSC station wasn't available on DirecTV while the other three majors were, their response was:
Our parent company, LIN Television, strongly believes that subscriber fees paid to broadcasters by cable/sat providers are important to our long-term survival. Cable/sat providers currently pay those fees to all program providers except local broadcasters. LIN is committed to withholding authorization to carry the HD signals until agreements can be reached with these entities.
I think LIN is also playing hardball with E* customers so maybe it's time that the viewing public starts to make a stink about this. Since the Communications Act of 1934, which formed the FCC, says they are to regulate the airwaves in the "the public interest, convenience, or necessity" maybe it's time to let the FCC know that this is not happening. Probably the best time to do this is when the broadcast license of a LIN owned station is coming up for renewal.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it ticks me off when the broadcasters are basically given the public spectrum for free but then want to squeeze money out of the viewing public. What do you think???
Our parent company, LIN Television, strongly believes that subscriber fees paid to broadcasters by cable/sat providers are important to our long-term survival. Cable/sat providers currently pay those fees to all program providers except local broadcasters. LIN is committed to withholding authorization to carry the HD signals until agreements can be reached with these entities.
I think LIN is also playing hardball with E* customers so maybe it's time that the viewing public starts to make a stink about this. Since the Communications Act of 1934, which formed the FCC, says they are to regulate the airwaves in the "the public interest, convenience, or necessity" maybe it's time to let the FCC know that this is not happening. Probably the best time to do this is when the broadcast license of a LIN owned station is coming up for renewal.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it ticks me off when the broadcasters are basically given the public spectrum for free but then want to squeeze money out of the viewing public. What do you think???
