LivingRoom1_sm2

Defending the Rights of Mediacom Customers

At Mediacom, we're fighting against rising television programming costs and unfair bundling practices on behalf of our customers. This website is a resource to keep you informed of developments with these issues, and to help you learn how we're working to provide a great programming lineup at a reasonable price.

DirecTV Loses TEGNA Stations, Wants to Overturn Retrans Regime

November 30, 2023

DirecTV’s looking to change the model for broadcasters’ retransmission consent through its negotiations with TEGNA,…

Read More

Hearst forces channel blackout on DISH

November 11, 2023

US satellite TV outfit DISH Network Corporation has announced after months of negotiations, the entertainment…

Read More

Gray TV Loses FCC Retrans Case Against Frontier

April 22, 2021

The FCC did not agree with Gray TV that Frontier Communications failed to negotiate in…

Read More

Your Channel Lineup

Mediacom continually strives to provide channel lineups that offer a great variety at an affordable price.

Like satellite, telcos and other cable providers, Mediacom pays broadcast stations and program networks a monthly fee to bring you their channels. These fees are the fastest rising costs of your monthly cable bill.

Sometimes, these video suppliers charge unfair and unreasonable fees and make demands that we carry their less-popular channels in order to continue to offer their highly-rated networks, and if we do not meet their terms, they black out their channel.

Channel Blackouts

A blackout is an increasingly common negotiating tactic that channel owners use to force cable and satellite companies to pay exorbitant rate increases during contract renewals. Only the network or broadcaster can black out the channel.

This problem of blacking out channels extends far beyond just Mediacom, and many cable and satellite companies regularly find themselves threatened with similar shutdowns. In 2018 there were more than 800 blackouts from broadcast networks that pulled their channels during negotiations.

 

Bundled1

Channel Bundling

Some big media companies that own multiple networks force us to bundle their least popular channels in order to carry their most popular networks. Others will not allow us to offer their channels on certain tiers. It all amounts to you paying for channels you don’t want to watch.

 

 

The Story of Cable

See why Mediacom has to charge for broadcast channels that are free with an antenna over the air.

FAQs