Sinclair is the owner of KDSM FOX-17, the station which carried the Orange Bowl in the Des Moines market. Sinclair ran a scroll across the bottom of the screen during the pregame and the game itself. The scroll told viewers about its dispute with Mediacom, a cable TV company which serves the Des Moines market. Sinclair advised viewers it was unlikely Sinclair would come to an agreement with Mediacom to continue carrying KDSM’s signal. The scroll advised viewers to make “alternatative” arrangements, like getting DirecTV, in order to continue receiving KDSM.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
The Mediacom vs. Sinclair fight did make for fun viewing, but MY favorite moments (other than victory) were:
* Gatorade dump
* the constant compaining aboutt the “cold” (sic) in Miami
* Jimmy Carter (!) opening the broadcast
* and even though it didn’t work, my kids loved the fake field goal attempt. Gutsy call, Kirk…
What a tangled web….! We have Dish satellite TV at our house in SE Iowa. But we can’t get local/area ABC/NBC/CBS affiliates…something about them not allowing Dish to carry their signals. So we don’t watch them…their loss, not ours! Our ABC/NBC/CBS signals are from San Francisco, CA stations! Wonder if area TV stations have ever heard of “cutting off your nose”…etc. They, including Sinclair, are private businesses & can do what ever they wish, but I wonder if they think first of what’s good for VIEWERS?