ATLANTA, April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cox Media Group (“CMG”) today issued a statement regarding an FCC complaint filed by Cincinnati Bell (dba AltaFiber), a company that has yet to launch a cable service in the Dayton, Ohio market after many fits and starts over the past three years. The complaint claims that CMG has failed to negotiate retransmission consent in good faith. While CMG looks forward to formally responding to the complaint, CMG rejects the claim as unequivocally false and views its timing as calculated and suspect.
“We are surprised by the complaint from Cincinnati Bell that comes less than three weeks after the company responded to a document CMG proposed in December 2021. We have promptly responded to all correspondence with Cincinnati Bell over the past three years and have engaged in only a handful of discussions with them. Their complaints are without merit. It is patently false that CMG is demanding that Cincinnati Bell pay for broadband-only subscribers. Indeed, CMG’s proposal specifically exempts broadband-only customers,” says Paul Curran, CMG’s EVP, Television.
Curiously, Cincinnati Bell’s other complaint is that CMG’s proposal requests that Cincinnati Bell honestly portray its programming costs to subscribers rather than pretending that retransmission consent fees are a unique cost requiring a “surcharge.” “What they pretend is somehow ‘bad faith’ is a good faith belief in pro-consumer transparency and truth in cable billing,” says Curran. “Cincinnati Bell can get a fair deal anytime it wants to actually engage in negotiations.” Noting that while Cincinnati Bell has no subscribers, has not yet commenced operations in Dayton and has gone months without engaging in negotiations, Curran called it “blatant theatrics” that, without further negotiating efforts, Cincinnati Bell has concocted a frivolous set of claims into an FCC filing. “Rather than trying to create business leverage through the regulatory process by attempting to interfere with FCC review of non-related deals,” Curran concluded, “Cincinnati Bell should proceed to actually negotiate.”
About Cox Media Group
CMG Media Corporation (d/b/a Cox Media Group) is an industry-leading media company with unparalleled brands, award-winning content, and exceptional people. CMG provides valuable local content to viewers in the communities in which it serves. The company’s operations primarily include 53 top-performing radio stations delivering multiple genres of content in 11 markets, 31 high-quality, market-leading television stations in 20 markets, , and numerous streaming and digital platforms. CMG’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo and MyNetworkTV, as well as several valuable news and independent stations. Additionally, the company also offers a full suite of national, regional, local and digital advertising services with CMG Local Solutions, CoxReps and Gamut. For more information about CMG, visit www.coxmediagroup.com.
