Rocco saves the day; consumers pay the way

Tonight was supposed to be the night when Sinclair Broadcast Group pulled the plug on Mediacom’s right to broadcast 22 of its television stations, including the CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids. Today’s newspaper even included a how-to guide for people to obtain the channel over the air and the cable giant began issuing free antennae to its customers.

Then came word from Mediacom Chairman and CEO Rocco B. Commisso (not an alias, I swear) that he has offered Sinclair 33 percent more money to resolve the ongoing dispute over compensation for carrying its stations. Commisso said the latest offer included several options for Sinclair, including a deal that is more than double the average compensation Sinclair gets for rebroadcasting its signal from any other satellite or cable provider.

A few hours later, Sinclair reached an agreement with Mediacom to delay disconnecting its stations from the dominant cable TV provider in Iowa until Jan. 5 while negotiations continue.

Affected markets include Des Moines and Cedar Rapids in Iowa; Minneapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala; and St. Louis, among others. Subscribers in 16 markets may lose one or two local stations each.

For the time being, anyway, local Mediacom customers will continue to receive NFL games broadcast on CBS, Iowa Hawkeye basketball, “The Amazing Race,” “Late Night With David Letterman,” all those CSI shows and, come Dec. 29, the Brut Sun Bowl.

I walked away from the dispute when I purchased a high definition antenna – thus not rewarding Sinclair nor punishing Mediacom. To my surprise, the antenna pulls in all of my local channels, including CBS, and also their HD signals. I wasn’t able to get CBS HD through Mediacom, but can through the antenna.

So why do I care? Because, ultimately, this is a consumer pocketbook issue. If Mediacom buckles to Sinclair’s demands – and it appears they have – who do you think will foot the bill? Not Rocco.