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Staff Writer AGAWAM Western Massachussets residents with Comcast Cable could be in danger of losing their coverage of WGGB ABC 40. According to Comcast officials their agreement with the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, owners of WGGB ABC 40, expires shortly and although the two companies are negotiating, Sinclair could elect to pull the channel and Comcast would not legally be allowed to carry it. "Comcast is currently negotiating a new agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the company that owns WGGB in the greater Springfield area. We have notified customers that we are not legally permitted to carry these stations without Sinclair's permission once our agreement expires," Kristen L. Roberts, regional senior director and community and public relations for Connecticut-West Region Comcast Cable, said Comcast says that Sinclair is demanding fees from the cable operator for the inclusion of Channel 40 WGGB ABC, a station that can be received free via an outdoor or indoor antenna. "They are demanding a fee when broadcast channels are free," Roberts said to Reminder Publications. "We are preventing our customers from paying the fees demanded by Sinclair." After repeated efforts to contact Sinclair and Channel 40 WGGB ABC they failed to return comment on the situation. "If Sinclair elects to pull the station from our lineup, we are not legally allowed to carry the station without Sinclair's permission," Stephen Fitzgibbons, manager of government and community relations for Comcast said. "We will continue to do everything in our power to avoid service interruptions." Roberts said analog coverage of Channel 40 WGGB ABC cannot be dropped during the February sweeps period due to Federal Communications Commission rules but by March 1, the end of sweeps, Sinclair can suspend carriage of the station. Sinclair can suspend High Definition carriage of the station as soon as Feb. 4 if an agreement is not met. Sweeps go until March 1. If after that time the two companies have not reached an agreement then Sinclair will have the ability to pull coverage of the channel in all formats Roberts said. "Substitute programming may be available if WGGB ABC 40 carriage is suspended," Fitzgibbons said. Roberts said that at this time substitute programming is not known for sure. A Comcast affiliate out of Boston would likely replace some programming if negotiations fail. Local news coverage to Western Massachusetts, however, is an area Comcast has not yet worked out. According to Roberts WGGB ABC 40 is the only Sinclair station Comcast carries in Western Massachusetts. Similar cases such as this one are happening on a national level between Sinclair and various cable operators. |
