After a one-day blackout, KFMB CBS-8 is back on Cox Communications’ cable network in San Diego as both sides reached an agreement over re-transmission fees.

The deal means that San Diego County Cox cable subscribers will be able to watch Sunday’s NFL contest between the San Diego Chargers and rival Oakland Raiders on Cox’s network.

For most of Friday, that didn’t appear to be the case. The two sides failed to reach a re-transmission agreement before the previous, three-year-old deal expired on Thursday.

Without an agreement, Cox blacked out CBS-8 to its subscribers in San Diego County.


Despite the day long blackout, the two sides kept talking. If they hadn’t reached a deal by this weekend, it would have forced thousands of local football fans to find an alternative way to watch the Chargers game, which is being broadcast on CBS Sunday afternoon.

Cox is believed to be San Diego County’s largest pay TV provider. The privately held company does not release subscriber numbers in San Diego.

Details of the agreement were not disclosed. But Cox contended that Midwest Television, the owner of CBS-8 and MeTV, was seeking a 1,000 percent increase over the previous re-transmission agreement negotiated three years ago. MeTV was also blacked out Friday on Cox.

“We have been working hard to try to get a deal that we think is fair to our customers,” said Cox Spokeswoman Ceanne Guerra. “As you know these programming fees continue to escalate, and we want to make sure we are getting a fair price.”


On its website Friday, CBS-8 told NFL fans the best way to watch Sunday’s game is to get an over-the-air antenna or switch to a different pay TV provider, such as AT&T U-Verse or DirecTV.

KFMB-TV also urged Cox subscribers to “let them know that you want to keep CBS 8 on their system.”

“CBS 8 is a third generation, family and locally owned CBS affiliated dedicated to serving the San Diego community for 67 years,” KFMB-TV said on its website. “We are working diligently to reach a fair agreement.”

This was the second time in roughly a year that CBS-8 has been at loggerheads with a pay TV provider over re-transmission fees.


In August 2015, the station was blacked out to local DirecTV subscribers. The dispute lingered for about three weeks before CBS-8 returned to DirecTV in San Diego – about two hours before the start of the Chargers’ first pre-season game that year.

In the past, many disputes between pay TV providers and content owners came from regional sports networks. But increasingly, local stations are getting into public battles with pay TV firms – highlighting the pressure they’re under from competition and changing viewing habits.

Nationwide, there were 193 blackouts of local broadcast stations on pay TV networks last year, a new record, according to the American Television Alliance, a pay TV industry group.

In 2010, there were only eight local station blackouts.


“There has been a dramatic shift in ratings moving from prime time broadcast to other sources,” said Erik Brannon, principal analyst with IHS Markit. “It started with cable channels, and now is continuing with online competition.”

When ad revenue was strong, local broadcasters often opted for “must carry” provisions when dealing with cable and satellite firms. These laws require pay TV outfits to carry local stations. Broadcasters who choose this option, however, must provide their signals for free.

The other option for broadcasters is to negotiate per-subscriber re-transmission fees with pay TV outfits. Under this scenario, cable/satellite companies aren’t required to carry the local station.

As ratings and ad revenue have tumbled for broadcasters over the past decade, more are opting for re-transmission deals instead of must carry.


The result is escalating blackouts.

“No longer can they secure the same (ad) rates that they once did,” said Brannon. “So the local broadcaster comes to Cox and says: The good times are over. You know we have some of the best content on TV. We can’t give it away for free anymore. You have to pay for it now.”

“And Cox is saying, Oh great, another one that we are going to have to deal with.”

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;


Twitter:@TechDiego

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