Sinclair, Mediacom agree to eight-day extension

Sinclair Broadcast Group and Mediacom have agreed to an eight-day extension of their retransmission agreement that expires at midnight, avoiding the disruption of the Orange Bowl and national football championship games.

“We just decided we wanted to avoid, with such important events coming up, the disruption that it would cause customers,” Sinclair General Counsel Barry Faber said. “I don't expect there will be a further extension.”

Faber declined to discuss the terms of the extension, but acknowledged that “maybe we're being compensated for it.”

“We recognize we're giving up, perhaps, a small amount of (negotiating) leverage,” Faber said. “But we don't think it's very much. Our channels are worth so much more than we are asking for.”

Mediacom disclosed the eight-day extension offer in a letter yesterday to U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., expressing appreciation for Kerry's request that the Federal Communications Commission take a role in the dispute.

Faber said the extension was offered before Kerry made the request to the FCC.