Time Warner Cable customers may lose TV networks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Time Warner Cable Inc. customers from Portland, Maine, to Pensacola, Fla., could lose access to one of their network TV stations because of a contract dispute with Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The dust-up between Sinclair and Time Warner is one of a growing number of disputes over the fees that cable providers pay broadcast stations to include their signals in channel lineups. The last high-profile dispute that caused a blackout came earlier this year when Cablevision Systems Corp. customers went without Fox programming for 15 days - missing two World Series games.

Broadcast companies used to allow cable providers to carry their channels for free and made their money selling commercial time. But competition with cable networks for ad dollars has intensified, and the recession underscored how quickly ad spending can fall off when businesses need to cut spending. Now broadcasters see these fees from cable providers as a crucial second revenue stream.

In the latest dispute, Sinclair is asking for more cash for the right to carry signals from its stations, but Time Warner Cable is resisting the increase.

If a deal isn't reached, 33 Sinclair stations in 21 markets - among them Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates - could go dark for Time Warner customers after midnight Friday. Sinclair said Tuesday that Time Warner has not presented a counterproposal since rejecting Sinclair's most recent offer. But in a statement, Time Warner said it is still ready to negotiate.

Sinclair, which is based in Hunt Valley, Md., doesn't have as much clout in these negotiations as the big networks themselves, which have stations in major markets such as New York and Los Angeles and are owned by media conglomerates, which also operate cable networks. Sinclair's stations are located in smaller cities, including San Antonio, Texas, Buffalo, N.Y., and Pittsburgh.