Belo Squeezes Pennies Out of Charter Here and There. Well, Not Here. Not Yet.

Flickr photo: sbisson Broadcasting & Cable brings the news that Belo Corp. and Charter Communications have reached a tentative deal that will keep the Dallas-owned stations on the cable carrier in three markets: St. Louis; Norfolk, Virgina; and Charlotte, North Carolina. So far, though, there's been no word from WFAA-Channel...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 29, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Flickr photo: sbisson

Broadcasting & Cable brings the news that Belo Corp. and Charter Communications have reached a tentative deal that will keep the Dallas-owned stations on the cable carrier in three markets: St. Louis; Norfolk, Virgina; and Charlotte, North Carolina. So far, though, there's been no word from WFAA-Channel 8, which Charter's scheduled to stop carrying New Year's Eve -- and, no, not because of this, which would be understandable. As we mentioned last week, Belo wants Chater to pony up a penny a day per subscriber, to which Charter, thus far, has said, Um, no.

Messages have been left at the Belo mothership this morning, because signals are mixed this a.m.: On the one hand, there is no "tentative agreement reached" banner on the WFAA site, which you'll find on the other Belo-owned stations' homepages. Then again, Belo has taken down its page demanding that local suscribers pester Charter management into keeping the ABC affiliate on the air. Cable. How quaint. --Robert Wilonsky

Update: WFAA-Channel 8 says it too has reached a tentative agreement with Charter.

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.