Satellite : Deal returns KRCG-TV to Dish lineup

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Deal returns KRCG-TV to Dish lineup
Station’s GM happy to get past summer’s woes.

By JUSTIN WILLETT Tribune business editor
Published Friday, September 12, 2008
Jon Van Ness is a happy man today.

The vice president and general manager of KRCG-TV said he is thrilled that Barrington Broadcasting Group, the station’s parent company, and satellite provider Dish Network reached a new retransmission consent agreement yesterday and that KRCG is returning to the Dish lineup after a 2½-month absence.

Van Ness no doubt is ready to turn his full focus to broadcasting after several issues this summer threatened to undermine the reputation of the Jefferson City CBS affiliate.

Longtime Sports Director Rod Smith was fired May 22 after 23 years at the station. His firing came after the layoffs of four other staffers and elicited a vocal outcry that included an online petition urging KRCG to rehire Smith.

Van Ness took over at KRCG amidst the hubbub.

He came on board in June, replacing former GM Betsy Farris, who fired Smith and then announced her retirement shortly thereafter. Van Ness and Leo Henning, a regional vice president for Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Barrington Broadcasting, reached out to Smith and eventually persuaded him to return. Smith was rehired in July and returned on-air last month.

That left just one issue to be resolved: the retransmission agreement dispute with Englewood, Colo.-based Dish Network.

KRCG was removed from Dish at midnight July 2, when its previous retransmission consent agreement expired. It was estimated the move affected about 40,000 households in the Columbia-Jefferson City area.

KRCG was the first Barrington station to allow its Dish agreement to expire, and that set the stage for negotiations to craft an agreement with Dish that would cover all of the Barrington’s 23 television stations.

Van Ness said KRCG’s previous agreement only covered its analog signal, not its digital signal, which will be its only signal beginning in February, the deadline for the federally mandated switch to digital television.

At issue was just how much Dish should pay KRCG - and by extension other Barrington stations - to retransmit its digital signal. Having the station’s digital signal enables the satellite provider to offer the station to its subscribers in high definition. Currently, Dish Network charges local customers $4.99 a month to receive their local stations in standard definition.

Dish representatives deemed Barrington’s compensation increase request as unreasonable, but neither side disclosed a dollar amount.

Van Ness said in July that local stations get pennies and noted that $5 from 40,000 Mid-Missouri households equals $200,000 a month and $2.4 million a year.

Both Dish representatives and Van Ness said whatever deal emerged could set a precedent for other local stations as the transition to all-digital broadcasting nears. Neither side would comment on the financial terms of the new deal.

"Barrington’s stations will receive appropriate compensation for the value it brings to Dish Network," K. James Yager, CEO of Barrington Broadcasting, said in a news release.

Van Ness said the issue was the digital signal. "The cost to build out for the HD world is significant," he said. "We just wanted some understanding of the value of that."

Van Ness said the two sides were close to a deal Aug. 7, but it fell through and negotiations continued through yesterday.

"We are thrilled at the outcome," he said today. "It has always been our intention to demonstrate the value of KRCG to Dish Network and to continue to serve the people of Mid-Missouri. We apologize for the inconvenience. ... We’re so happy to get back to what we do best."