Small Operator Trying To Resolve Gray's Retrans Complaint

A small cable operator said it's trying to resolve Gray Television's retransmission consent complaint alleging the operator carried WVLT-TV Knoxville without the broadcaster's permission. Spirit Broadband retransmitted without Gray's consent the station's signal on its cable systems serving the Knoxville market since Jan. 1, the station owner said in a retrans complaint posted Friday in docket 12-1. Spirit, with about 100 video customers, isn't carrying WVLT and hopes to work out a settlement with the station, Vince King, its president, said in an interview Monday. "We’re trying to work it out now that [the complaint will] be withdrawn," he said of Gray's retrans complaint against Spirit. A lawyer for Gray had no immediate comment. Citing a retrans case involving TV Max, Gray said the base forfeiture would be $952,500, covering the 127 days as of Thursday that WVLT was carried without Gray's permission on Spirit, with a fine of $7,500 daily. A 2014 commission order levied a $2.25 million fine in the TV Max matter (see 1407090047).