March 28, 2024

Benjamin Better

Better Get Computer

Cadiz Town Council Hears from Mediacom Pertaining to PMG Negotiations

In what carries on to be a struggle between information mogul Paxton Media Team LLC and cable giant Mediacom, it is the citizens of Trigg County that have ended up staying the callous casualty.

That was the message during Tuesday night’s Cadiz City Council conference, when Mediacom Director of Region Operations Joe DiJulio took thoughts and fears from council members surrounding the cable company’s best selection to pull Paducah’s WPSD Nearby 6 out from its tv package deal — depriving quite a few viewers of NBC content material, as effectively as regional news, sports and climate reports.

At the coronary heart of the issue is re-transmission charges, which should be paid out by a cable corporation and back to the network primarily based on subscriber prices — and in this scenario, from Mediacom to PMG.

Negotiations of these fees have reportedly stalled among the two organizations, with DiJulio noting PMG’s inquiring price tag is simply “too high.”


DiJulio included that most of Mediacom’s area prospects have presently “cut the cord,” switching their cable solutions for speedier net options in get to love streaming expert services this kind of as Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ and other solutions — which could be a additional deterrent in conversations.

In the meantime, PMG has distinctive rights with Mediacom as the area’s NBC affiliate, this means Mediacom can’t even pull from Bowling Eco-friendly, Nashville, Evansville, Jackson or Memphis for coverage and written content. Nor would that make a difference, considering that those people five markets do not effectively emphasize west Kentucky with their coverage.

Councilwoman Susan Bryant famous she’s read from a quantity of constituents about the misplaced channel, which is making a early morning, afternoon and evening hole in some people’s life.

In a June 1 statement, Mediacom reps mentioned “Paxton has become the most recent station owner to exploit our nation’s out-of-date federal broadcast tv regulations in an effort and hard work to raise its base line.”

DiJulio strengthened all those concerns on Tuesday night time.

PMG representatives have responded to identical barbs in the very last few months. Invoice Evans, vice president for the West Kentucky Media Division of PMG and publisher of The Paducah Sunshine, wrote in a June 21 assertion that Mediacom was “misleading its subscribers, and that WPSD did not ask for, nor get, the blackout. Rather, an extension of a new agreement was presented,” and that “this wasn’t about dollars.”

Through these stalled talks, PMG officials have been chaotic negotiating the purchase of Landmark Community Newspapers LLC dependent out of Shelbyville — in what is a team of 47 newspapers and many media organizations across Kentucky, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

On Feb. 24, PMG gained a Paycheck Defense Financial loan value $7.86 million as a result of the U.S. Financial institution Nationwide Association, which was labeled as an ongoing financial loan to keep 500 jobs. The bank loan has not been fully repaid or forgiven.

So it looks, for now, PMG and Mediacom will stay at an deadlock.

Connected: https://www.wkdzradio.com/2021/05/28/neighborhood-mediacom-customers-could-drop-wpsd/news-edge/