A news scroll notifying viewers of the negotiations can be seen on both local television stations at times throughout the day and evening hours.
Mike Pedelty, spokesman for Time Warner Cable Southwest Ohio, said Thursday that the cable company will continue to negotiate on behalf of their customers.
"Our customers are starting to see a pattern and are growing tired of this routine," Pedelty said. "Sinclair is trying to put customers in the middle of the negotiations by asking them to take an active role. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of these programming disputes and are voicing their concerns on our Web site www.rolloverorgettough.com."
A representative from Sinclair Broadcast Group could not be immediately reached for comment, but their online message to their viewers said the broadcast group doesn’t believe it will be able to reach an agreement with the cable company. The online message said, “Without a renewal, Time Warner Cable will no longer have the right to carry the broadcast of the television stations covered by this expiring agreement. Based on the status of the negotiations Sinclair does not believe we are going to be able to reach agreement on an extension of the deal. As a result, Time Warner would no longer be carrying the stations covered by the agreement with Sinclair beginning on January 1, 2011.”
Pedelty said it’s Sinclair’s decision on whether or not Time Warner will use the broadcast group’s on-air content.
Sinclair’s message called the situation a “failure of two companies to reach a business agreement, something that happens in the business world thousands of times a day.”
If negotiations fall through, cable customers will have to switch to other cable competitors, use satellite service or go to an off-air antenna to view these local stations.
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