An Open Letter to Sinclair and Mediacom

Gentlemen (and ladies),

It is Thursday, January 11, and I have now been without programming on our local CBS affiliate for six days.

I have to be honest -- I thought I would miss you more. When your feud over fees became public in November, I was upset at the notion of my cable company not being able to broadcast KGAN-TV. Although, I have to admit that I only watch two programs on the affiliate with any frequency -- "Survivor" and University of Iowa sports. Currently, "Survivor" is between seasons. I did miss my first basketball game ... well, I didn't really. I turned on the radio, and listened to an entertaining broadcast complete with pregame and postgame comments. It was just as good as watching it.

Back in November I did an Internet search to determine if there were other cable television options in my Marion, Iowa neighborhood. There are not -- Mediacom is a monopoly where I live. I checked into satellite TV -- Sinclair's station begged me to give DirectTV my business. But making the change would have raised my television viewing bill from about $14 a month to $25, a cost that I am not willing to pay. And so, until y'all come back to the sandbox with your expensive attorneys and big egos, I'll simply have to do without CBS and KGAN-TV.

Sinclair -- I know that you don't really care about what's going on in Eastern Iowa -- your CEO's public comments have made that pretty clear. We're just a bunch of country bumpkins in rural America that represent a sliver of your total viewership. The local station that you've owned for the last several years has been in the ratings cellar from the very first day. I can only assume that this negatively affects your advertising revenue and your corporate bottom line. But, apparently the impact is not that great, since your revenue this week must be going from some to none. What company would spend good money to advertise with you now, when your product isn't readily available to most of the public?

And Mediacom -- I think if I had to choose a side to support, it would be yours. But I have to be honest, I'm no fan of cable television. You charge me $14 a month for an antennae that pulls in local stations, a couple of national "superstations," and several shopping channels. Just two years ago our bill for the same package was $10. Should we care to receive additional programming from you, our cost jumps to $30 or more. It bothers me that you are the only option in town. And what I really want from cable providers is the option to choose my channels a la carte. For $15 a month, give me just six or seven stations of my choosing, instead of 24 channels of your choosing.

Well folks, while you are doing your thing, I'm doing mine. I'm playing games with the kids at night, reading, listening to music and the radio. I might miss the Super Bowl, or an Iowa basketball game, or a "Survivor" episode. But, it won't kill me. And if I get really desperate, I can always find a friend, or a local bar and grill, and borrow their satellite TV for a couple of hours.

You just keep those attorneys on retention and running your full page ads in the local newspaper that blame each other for your problems. And then, when you finally work out your deal, be sure to raise my bill (Mediacom) and advertising rates (Sinclair) to make up the difference.

No longer watching,
Brian