NBC, WTHR, CBS - September Contract Negotiation

Plucked from a another forum post:

rant]

Every year these threads appear.  And every year I keep wishing the carriers (cable companies and ATT) would hold their ground until the local's realize they are losing eyes for their advertising.   People blame the carriers for their "greed" and not supplying "their channels" that "they are paying for". 

First, they are not "your channels".  ATT can do anything they want to the channel lineup as per these terms of service (8. INTERRUPTIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE).  You are paying for a TV service, not specific individual channels.

Second in this case it's the locals who are the greedy ones here asking for ever more and more money every year for something most anyone can get for free with an antenna (assuming the locals are in range - check here).  And then later everyone complains of their ever increasing bills when the one of the reasons for that increase is the "Broadcast TV Surcharge".  So guess who's actually paying for the locals for their greed?

If the carriers stonewalled these locals maybe they would "blink" and put an end to this annual blackmail.  But it never happens and it's just wishful thinking on my part.  In reality the carriers and the locals eventually come to an "agreement" where the locals get less than they asked for (they probably asked for twice as much as they need anyhow if they truly need any more in the first place).  We end paying for the bill.  And it's always the carriers that are to blame.  There's a lot to blame and greed to put on the carriers, but this annual negotiation crap is not one of them.

[end of rant]

Hello. Can you please tell us where you're located? 

Our goal is to resolve this matter quickly and reasonably, and we appreciate your patience while we attempt just that.

not a question but a statement.  if i don't have wthr by Friday 9/29/17, i am cancelling service.  already missed 3 Sunday Night NFL games, 2 Notre Dame games and a new show that I was excited about.  i understand there may be temporary outages, but 3 weeks is ridiculous.

AT&T you say the same thing will happen with other cable providers when their contract is up. So Comcast who owns NBC will not have NBC on their lineup?  I doubt that!

Just because comcrap owns NBC doesn't mean they own your local station that broadcasts NBC (unless maybe it's an O&O station - owned and operated).  And even if NBC isn't a problem the problem is sure to arise for the other networks comcrap doesn't own when their retransmission contracts expire.  It's a never-ending spiral upward in cost.  If one station gets away with exorbitantly higher retransmission cost so will the other stations saying "well, you paid them what they demanded, how about us?".  And we all end up paying for it on our bills.

I hadn't though about this point until this post, but based on this line of thinking, it's not just ATT dealing with one local station that's on the line here.  It's future dealings with all the other local stations too.  So I am on ATT's side here on this issue.  I hope ATT stone-walls until the local gives in.  And if they don't so be it.  Get an antenna, some other means of getting the station, or leave.

That's up to you. Don't forget you might be liable to an Early Termination Fee.

These interruptions in service are becoming far too common as the local stations search for additional revenue. And don't forget, if your local station is holding DirecTV and its customers for ransom now, it will probably happen with Dish and even the local cable company when their contracts expire.

This is normal channel negotiations. Local wants to keep costs high, Directv wants to lower costs. As customers we prefer the lower costs so that it doesn't end up raising our bills further.

All tv providers go though this as they do not own the channels. So switching does not protect you against this situation. In general we go to a pay tv provider for the national channels we cannot get otherwise, not our free local channels. Use a antenna and get them free over the air. Don't give the local more leverage keeping costs higher.

Agreement with local and Directv comes up. Local wants to keep costs high, possibly raising further, but Directv wants prices lower as they are free over the airways. Local affiliate within their rights has turned off the feed to Directv in an attempt to leverage customers, which is a negotiation tactic becoming more common with locals.

If your intent of canceling is to try another provider, that will not protect you. All tv providers go through this. Remember they don't own the channels. Plug in an antenna and get them free as usual. Pay tv providers are for the national channels, not the local channels that we can get free.