What has become a common trend across the cable and streaming industry, it appears that we are on the verge of another carriage dispute. Sinclair-owned CBS affiliates has begun to message customers that if they can’t come to a new agreement, Hulu customers may lose their local Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate.
Fortunately for Hulu customers, Sinclair only owns 23 local CBS affiliates and tend to be outside the largest markets. Some markets affected though are Austin (KEYE), Salt Lake City (KUTV), Bakersfield, CA (KBAK-TV), West Palm Beach, FL (WPEC), Gainesville (WGFL), Cedar Rapids (KGAN), Boise, ID (KBOI-TV), Grand Rapids (WWMT), Albany, NY (WRGB), Syracuse (WTVH), and Eugene (KVAL).
If the two sides are unable to reach an agreement, you can always get the affiliates through an antenna or through a subscription to CBS All Access ($5.99) — or Locast if its available in your market.
This is the second major dispute between Sinclair and Hulu in as many weeks. In October, after failing to reach a deal, Hulu dropped Sinclair-owned Fox Sports RSNs from the service.
In October, Hulu also lost 20+ Nexstar-owned ABC affiliates. In those markets however, Hulu replaced the channels with a national ABC feed which carries live sports, daytime, and primetime programming.
In recent weeks, there have been other carriage disputes in the industry as well. Last week, Nexstar-owned locals were dropped by Dish Network, while DirecTV and AT&T TV NOW customers lost Tegna locals. Nexstar-owned CBS affiliates have been off fuboTV since September.
Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel was dropped by YouTube TV last week, just two months after the service dropped Fox Sports RSNs.