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More Tribune Stations Go Dark on Cablevison
WGN America and Fox affiliate WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut, two channels previously unaffected by Tribune’s dispute with Cablevision, have gone dark. With the addition of WGN America and WTIC, Cablevision has now lost a total of 6 Tribune stations.
According to Cablevision, 50,000 Cablevision customers’ sole source of Fox programming was WTIC. However, the majority of Connecticut customers still receive New York City’s Fox affliate, WNYW.
Since August 17, Cablevision customers in various parts of the country have been unable to watch WPIX in New York, WPHL in Philadelphia, KWGN in Denver, and WCCT in Connecticut. The former two stations are My Network affiliates, while the latter two are affiliates of the CW. In addition to the main channels, Cablevision customers in the New York City and Philadelphia areas lost Antenna TV.
Tribune Stations Go Dark on Cablevision
Last night at midnight, four Tribune Broadcasting stations, two My Network affiliates and two CW affiliates, went dark for Cablevision customers because of a disagreement on retransmission consent fees. The affected stations are WPIX in New York, WPHL in Philadelphia, KWGN in Denver, and WCCT in Connecticut.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cablevision says, “The bankrupt Tribune Co. and the hedge funds and banks that own it, including Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co. and others, are trying to solve Tribune’s financial problems on the backs of Cablevision customers. Tribune and their hedge fund owners are demanding tens of millions in new fees for WPIX and other stations they own. They should stop their anti-consumer demands and work productively to reach an agreement.”
Will Arsenio Hall Get a New Talk Show?
Fresh from his Apprentice win, Arsenio Hall is looking to strike while the iron is hot. The comedian and former late night talk show host may return with a new syndicated talk show. According to Deadline and Broadcasting & Cable , Hall is in talks CBS Television Distribution and Tribune Broadcasting for a syndicated talk show, but no deal has been finalized yet.
Arsenio Hall has not been relevant in a long time, so a new talk show might not be a success. His first talks show, which was also syndicated, ran from 1989 to 1994 and was a hit with an “urban” audience. However, nowadays, it tends to be unfairly grouped with Chevy Chase’s abysmal Fox talk show that used be a punchline. (The failure of The Jay Leno Show has replaced it as the biggest talk show flop.)
Unlike Chase, Hall has managed to be remembered for something other than sucking at his job. The clip of Bill Clinton playing the saxophone is always played in presidential election years as an example of a presidential candidate looking cool. Also, anyone 30 to 40 years old probably remembers the dog pound, its fist pumping, and “Woof, woof, woofing.”
While I don’t think Hall will be a success, I could be wrong. Nobody thought Conan O’Brien would last more than 13 weeks and he’s been around for almost 19 years.
Wait! What's A Dial? 