Pay TV, media owners do battle in Des Moines ... again
Well, they're at it again. We've watched our local Fox affiliate and Mediacom struggle during contract negotiations, and now we see Tribune Broadcasting (owners of Channel 13/Des Moines and WGN-9/Chicago) doing battle. While the two sides negotiate carriage fees, the public posturing has gotten ugly and painful to watch. It’s hard for the typical viewer to unpack what’s really going on and we’re left to wonder. Is Dish really being a bully and threatening to unfairly yank Channel 13 off its system? Or is Tribune Media using its news anchors and commercial inventory (and coaxing viewers to make demands on its behalf) to extort more money from Dish subscribers for programming that anyone can get free over the air? In either case, this is the first time I can remember seeing members of our local community and news media -- actual TV news anchors -- being drawn into a fight between multi-billion-dollar corporations in this way. As a 35-year broadcaster it's unsettling to wa...