{"id":920424,"date":"2025-12-16T19:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T00:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/optimum-blasts-tegnas-outrageous-30-50-price-hike-demand\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T19:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T00:05:17","slug":"optimum-blasts-tegnas-outrageous-30-50-price-hike-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/optimum-blasts-tegnas-outrageous-30-50-price-hike-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimum Blasts TEGNA\u2019s Outrageous 30% – 50% Price Hike Demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Optimum Blasts TEGNA\u2019s Outrageous 30% – 50% Price Hike Demand<\/b><\/p>\n

Optimum to TEGNA: We Will Not Let You Make Watching TV Unaffordable for Our Customers by Forcing a Price Hike\u00a0 <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–
\nOptimum (NYSE: OPTU) today forcefully rejects excessive and unjustified demands from TEGNA, the broadcast provider behind certain local ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC-affiliated stations and the CW. TEGNA is pursuing egregious fee increases that are divorced from market reality, including a massive 30% hike<\/b> for major network affiliates and a colossal 50% increase<\/b> for the CW.\n<\/p>\n

Rate Hikes Disconnected from Reality<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nTEGNA is attempting to drive up costs on two fronts: imposing unjustified premiums on major networks and exploding rates for lower-viewership channels like the CW. This pricing strategy ignores the current media landscape, where consumers demand value and flexibility, and creates a total disconnect between cost and value, underscoring how much today\u2019s programming model remains broken and outdated.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOptimum will always take a stand for our customers against broadcasters and programmers demanding significantly higher fees for the same content,\u201d <\/i>said Keith Bowen, President of News, Programming and Business Services at Optimum. \u201cTEGNA is operating as if the market hasn\u2019t changed in 20 years and its request is nothing short of egregious.<\/i><\/p>\n

Broadcasters cling to an outdated, restrictive, and now irrelevant business model that places upward pressure on customer bills, forces them to pay for content they don\u2019t watch, and deprives consumers of the choice they expect, and frankly, deserve. Enough is enough. TEGNA\u2019s proposal isn\u2019t just unrealistic, its predatory. We will not stand by while broadcasters and programmers attempt to use our customers as blank checks.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Customers Shouldn\u2019t Subsidize Broadcaster Mergers<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nThese demands from TEGNA cannot be viewed in isolation; they are directly linked to the looming merger of Nexstar and TEGNA and a broadcasting industry that is rapidly contracting into a duopoly. In fact, Optimum\u2019s negotiations with TEGNA and Nexstar\u2013 with expirations just one week apart \u2013 expose the dark side of broadcaster consolidation.\n<\/p>\n

\nAdded Bowen: “TEGNA is attempting to lock in skyrocketing rates now, effectively forcing Optimum\u2019s constituents to pre-pay for a merger that will only reduce their choices. Optimum is taking this stand not just for today, but to stop a trend where broadcasters use the threat of blackouts to fund their takeover sprees. As broadcasters race to consolidate, they are leaving the consumer behind. Optimum urges policymakers to look closely at how these rate demands serve as a precursor to anti-competitive behavior.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Optimum Stands Up for its Customers and Requests Good-Faith Negotiations<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nConsumers have been crystal clear: they want real choice, real value, and affordable options<\/b> \u2013 not skyrocketing bills driven by broadcasters and programmers who refuse to evolve. At a time when families are watching every dollar, TEGNA is demanding double-digit hikes without offering a single improvement in content or service, and when content is available on other platforms.\n<\/p>\n

\nOptimum refuses to accept outlandish price increases that would only serve to inflate customers\u2019 monthly bills and accelerate a broken cycle that punishes viewers.\n<\/p>\n

\nWe are simply asking broadcasters and programmers, like TEGNA, to evolve with us. Optimum wants to create partnerships to develop new, attractive, and affordable viewing solutions that allow customers to select and pay for programming options for the content they want to watch.\n<\/p>\n

In Summary:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n