Battling over retransmission consent, Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI) may end up pulling 30 stations off of Comcast if they can't reach an agreement. It would end up affecting about 3 million customers who wouldn't receive the signal.
The current carriage deal with Comcast (CMCSA) is over on February 5. Sinclair has told Comcast that they'll have to pay cash if they want to continue doing business with them in 23 markets. Comcast refuses to to pay cash, saying that Sinclair is the only broadcaster they are not able to make a deal with.
One aside to all of this is that Sinclair may not have a strong footing for a season of time, as by federal law no in-market station can be pulled from cable during the sweeps season.
In a statement, Comcast Corporation Executive Vice President David Cohen said: "Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the nation’s largest broadcast television station owners, has demanded large cash payments from Comcast, and ultimately consumers, so that these customers can continue to view broadcast television stations that are available over-the-air for free. We do not believe that our customers should have to pay extra to watch free TV.
"We are currently negotiating with Sinclair to reach a fair agreement, but are not legally allowed to carry these channels without Sinclair’s permission. We will do everything in our power to avoid service interruptions without adding Sinclair’s proposed fees to customers’ bills."
The business usually has worked with small cable and satellite operators paying cash and larger cable operators exchanging advertising time. But when all is said and done, Sinclair and other broadcasters have the legal position to be paid with cash, rather than other means.
If Sinclair doesn't move, Comcast will either have to pay cash or stop doing business with them.
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