Six Iowa Senators Call on Sinclair to Immediately Restore Stations to Mediacom.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Following is a statement from Thomas P. Graves, the Executive Vice President of the Iowa Cable & Telecommunications Association:

I am pleased that distinguished Iowa State Senators representing thousands of Iowans have called on Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) to immediately allow Mediacom Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:MCCC) to resume carriage of the broadcast signals. It is unfortunate that Sinclair continues to treat the State of Iowa and its citizens with disrespect. They declined to follow the urgings of the entire bi-partisan Iowa Congressional Delegation, they would not make themselves available to attend the Joint Government Oversight Committee hearing originally scheduled for today, and they have stated publicly that Iowa is simply not important to them.

In their statement issued yesterday, six Iowa State Senators stated:

"Today, we are calling on Sinclair to immediately allow Mediacom to resume carrying the KDSM signal in the Des Moines market and the KGAN signal in Cedar Rapids until both sides have a chance to appear before the Government Oversight Committee and to resolve this dispute. Clearly, a resumption of carriage is in the best interests of Iowa's television viewing public. It would show tremendous good faith on Sinclair's part and go a long way toward restoring public confidence and showing viewers that they aren't pawns in a game."

The direct urgings of the Senators could not be any clearer to Sinclair. We will now have to wait and see if, and how, they respond.

It is becoming increasingly apparent to me, and no doubt obvious to all Iowans and their elected officials, that Sinclair's delaying tactics are not only designed to hurt Mediacom's cable customers and its employees, but show a disdain for the State of Iowa and their elected representatives. Last week, Sinclair snubbed the entire Iowa Congressional Delegation, including Senators Harkin and Grassley, in their simple request to restore the stations on Mediacom's channel lineup so as not to harm the public any further. This week they were not willing to make time to come to Iowa to explain their position to the Government Oversight Committee. When will this arrogance end?

It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow night. Sinclair has been engaged for months in similar negotiations over retransmission consent with Time Warner, the world's largest media company. The people of the State of Iowa will certainly have a legitimate complaint if instead of having to go through the irritation of losing access to the Sinclair stations on their cable systems, the customers of Time Warner are given their third extension while the companies continue to talk. On the other hand, perhaps Sinclair and Time Warner will reach agreement; if so, we will see if Sinclair offers the same deal to Mediacom for Iowans.

Sinclair says this is a simple business dispute that requires no intervention from government at any level. In principle, I agree that the government should not intervene in business disputes, but this is neither simple, nor just a business dispute. This is an example of a company with the ability and the mindset to hold television viewers hostage with their delays and exorbitant financial demands.

Iowa Cable & Telecommunications Association

The Iowa Cable & Telecommunications Association is a state trade association for the cable television industry. The association provides membership services, including representation at state and federal government, to Iowa's cable television operators and programmers.