- Image by Getty Images via @daylife
This is what I’m thinking:
* Fans of the Fox show “Glee” have less reason to worry than previously thought about possibly missing original episodes if local affiliate WUTV is off Time Warner Cable on Jan. 1 because of a money dispute between the station’s owner and the cable company.
After thinking about how Fox has programmed “Glee” in the past, I decided to call the network’s publicity office Thursday to see if the show starring Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch (see above) would air original episodes in January or if it would even air repeats.
The show’s publicist told me that the winter finale of “Glee” will air Dec. 7, then the series will go into repeats. The repeats don’t end until “Glee” gets the post-Super Bowl time slot on Feb. 6.
One suspects that Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns WUTV and WNYO (Channel 49), and TWC certainly should make a deal by the Super Bowl, which is carried by Fox this season.
With that in mind, losing original episodes of “Glee” appears to be a very long shot.
Of course, the January return of “American Idol” and the February Super Bowl are much more important to most Western New Yorkers than “Glee.”
And as I wrote Thursday, most resourceful cable subscribers can get the Fox station with rabbit ears antennas or watch “Glee” on websites for free.
* There is a misconception out there that TWC is battling Fox. The dispute actually is with Sinclair, a broadcasting company that owns the local Fox affiliate.
After shaking my head about Sinclair’s statement that it needs more compensation from TWC because of increased programming costs, I think I figured it out.
Sinclair doesn’t pay to produce Fox’s prime time shows. It may have to give the network money to carry the expensive NFL package, but it should be able to recoup that with advertising.
I suspect Sinclair’s increased programming costs concern the syndicated programming it carries during the day and night. If so, I’m not buying that TWC should be responsible for the expense of carrying talk shows, judge shows and repeats of comedies and dramas. WUTV should get the money back with advertising.
* Speaking of misconceptions out there, DISH network subscribers waiting for Buffalo Sabres games to return to the satellite service on MSG should know the Sabres are caught in the crossfire of what is primarily a New York City issue.
The Rangers, the Islanders and the New Jersey Devils are all on MSG downstate. The Buffalo market is more wild about hockey percentage-wise than the New York City market. But obviously, the NYC market is much more important to DISH than the Buffalo market because of its size.
Alan Pergament was the television critic for The Buffalo News for 28 years. He currently is an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College and Medaille College, teaching courses in communications. He also writes a monthly column on the media for Buffalo Spree magazine.
