Sinclair Victorious. Federal Communications Commission Rules Against Mediacom in Good Faith Complaint

Sinclair Victorious. Federal Communications Commission Rules Against Mediacom in Good Faith Complaint

BALTIMORE, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today ruled against Mediacom Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:MCCC) on all counts contained in a complaint filed by Mediacom alleging that Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has not negotiated in good faith during retransmission consent discussions between Sinclair and Mediacom. The FCC's decision indicates their complete agreement with Sinclair that the failure of Sinclair to grant retransmission consent to Mediacom represents nothing more than "a fundamental disagreement between the parties over the appropriate valuation of Sinclair's signals." The FCC indicated that in light of their finding that "Sinclair did not breach its obligation to negotiate retransmission consent in good faith," the FCC's "formal involvement in this dispute is ended."

"We are extremely pleased that the FCC ruled so completely in our favor in this matter," commented Barry Faber, Sinclair's Vice President and General Counsel. "In its order, the FCC agreed with virtually every argument advanced by Sinclair, disagreed with virtually every claim made by Mediacom, and this decision represents a resounding victory not just for Sinclair, but for all broadcasters in their efforts to be fairly compensated by cable companies. In addition to its overall holding that our actions in this negotiation have been completely legal, we were particularly gratified by the FCC's conclusion that marketplace considerations for the value of broadcast stations can take into account the prices cable companies pay for nonbroadcast, cable channels."

"We fully expected this very logical decision by the FCC," stated David Smith, Sinclair's CEO and President, "just as we expected the decision by a Federal District Court last year not to grant an injunction allowing Mediacom to continue to carry the stations in the absence of an agreement. We are hopeful, however, that the realization by Mediacom that the government is not going to assist them in obtaining the right to carry the stations may help to change their negotiating position to one which is more likely to result in a deal. In the absence of that occurring, however, we unfortunately will no longer be carried on the Mediacom cable systems. We would like to remind the public that the stations will continue to be available to them via free over- the-air delivery or from another multi-video program distributor, such as DirecTV or The Dish Network."

The stations and markets impacted are:

Des Moines/Ames (KDSM-FOX), Cedar Rapids (KGAN-CBS), Mobile-Pensacola (WEAR-ABC/WFGX-MNT), Peoria/Bloomington (WYZZ-FOX), Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (WLOS-ABC/WMYA-MNT), Lexington (WDKY-FOX), Madison (WMSN-FOX), Nashville (WZTV-FOX/WUXP-MNT/WNAB-CW), Minneapolis (WUCW- CW), Paducah/Cape Girardeau (KBSI-FOX/WDKA-MNT), Springfield/Champaign/Decatur (WICS-ABC/WICD-ABC), St. Louis (KDNL-ABC), Tallahassee (WTWC-NBC), Birmingham (WTTO-CW/WABM-MNT), Norfolk (WTVZ-MNT) and Milwaukee (WCGV-MNT/WVTV-CW).

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, currently owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 36 markets. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 22% of U.S. television households and is affiliated with all the major networks.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. When used in this press release, the words "outlook," "intends to," "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "achieves," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including and in addition to the assumptions identified above, the impact of changes in national and regional economies, successful integration of acquired television stations (including achievement of synergies and cost reductions), FCC approval of pending license transfers, successful execution of outsourcing agreements, pricing and demand fluctuations in local and national advertising, volatility in programming costs, the market acceptance of new programming and our news central strategy, our local sales initiatives, and the other risk factors set forth in the Company's most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurances that the assumptions and other factors referred to in this release will occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements.

First Call Analyst: Lucy Rutishauser
FCMN Contact:

Source: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Barry M. Faber, V.P. & General Counsel of Sinclair Broadcast
Group, Inc., +1-410-568-1500

Web site: http://www.sbgi.net/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110203.html

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