PITTSBURGH, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The American Cable Association has begun taking steps to ensure the Sinclair Broadcast Group does not abuse its position as a U.S. cable TV provider.
In response to Mediacom Communication Corp.'s request for intervention of unfair marketing practices by Sinclair, the ACA has asked the Federal Communications Commission to intervene on behalf of U.S. cable subscribers, said an ACA news release.
Mediacom had previously filed a retransmission consent complaint against Sinclair over its marketing tactics and followed that with an ACA request for continued carriage of Sinclair's stations.
"As alleged by Mediacom, Sinclair seeks to combine its market power over rural and small market cable systems with bad faith bargaining tactics to extract compensation far in excess of any measure of market value," ACA President John Polka said in a letter. "In fact, ACA members report similar conduct by Sinclair in other markets."
"Sinclair aims to inflict 'maximum pain' on Mediacom, and the threat of imminent withdrawal of local network programming is central to that offensive strategy," he added.
All involved parties, including thousands of U.S. cable subscribers, must now await the FCC's decision regarding the corporate debate.
