The two Democratic senators from Connecticut criticized the...

The two Democratic senators from Connecticut criticized the fallout of a retransmission dispute between Cablevision and Meredith Corp.’s WFSB Hartford, but the cable operator pointed to others at fault. It “does a disservice to Connecticut families,” said Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy in a Friday letter to both parties (http://1.usa.gov/1gqui5Z). They said blackouts are “harmful for consumers” and that “WFSB deserves to be fairly compensated for its content under law,” with broadcasters playing what they call a “fundamental role” in the U.S. They asked Cablevision to commit to refunding Litchfield and New Haven County subscribers upon request for the value of WFSB that they have lost. Cablevision said the senators “are absolutely right that the WFSB owners should put Channel 3 programming back on during negotiations and stop holding Cablevision customers in one area of Connecticut hostage in order to force customers in a different part of the state to pay double for CBS programming.” A Meredith Corp. spokesman pointed to a statement issued last week. “Cablevision’s assertions are untrue and reflect its lack of understanding of Connecticut television viewers,” Meredith said. “Other subscription television operators recognize the value of WFSB local programming and have entered into agreements to compensate us accordingly. However, Cablevision has refused to even negotiate, and is revealing its true colors by wasting time with baseless press releases meant to mislead Connecticut residents, as well as a nuisance filing in the St. Louis market, a jurisdiction where it doesn’t even serve any viewers.” Meredith is ready to negotiate in good faith, it said.