{"id":66404,"date":"2019-09-21T00:43:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T00:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cowboys-bump-broncos-from-tv-screens-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:57:38","slug":"cowboys-bump-broncos-from-tv-screens-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cowboys-bump-broncos-from-tv-screens-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys bump Broncos from TV screens in Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A failure to negotiate private contracts, called retransmission agreements, between Denver network affiliates and satellite television providers is keeping Denver television from being aired in La Plata County, a situation that will be felt Sunday when the Denver Broncos game will not be shown on satellite systems in the county.<\/span>The Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It appears locals\u2019 love for Denver television stations will remain unrequited.<\/p>\n

An aggravating situation that for sports fans was all too apparent Sunday, when Denver Broncos fans in La Plata and Montezuma county could not see their team play the Green Bay Packers on standard satellite or cable systems. The Albuquerque Fox affiliate instead aired the Miami Dolphins-Dallas Cowboy game. The Packers defeated the Broncos, 27-16.<\/p>\n

On June 13, the Federal Communications Commission opened a path for a decades-long quest by residents of La Plata County to swap Albuquerque network affiliates\u2019 signals with Denver\u2019s major network stations\u2019 signals. The commission issued a memorandum opinion and order allowing Denver stations to be shown in La Plata County via satellite providers.<\/p>\n

The order came based on a request from La Plata County to modify the satellite television market by allowing satellite providers, principally Dish<\/a> and DirecTV<\/a>, to carry Denver\u2019s main network affiliates in the county.<\/p>\n

A high-ranking employee of the FCC\u2019s Media Bureau Division<\/a>, who requested anonymity to provide information about La Plata County\u2019s request, said Denver\u2019s main television stations reported to the FCC that they had not reached retransmission agreements with the satellite providers that would allow them to be carried in La Plata County.<\/p>\n

Retransmission agreements are private contracts between a local affiliate and a carrier, like a satellite company, giving permission to a carrier to transmit an affiliate\u2019s signal. Retransmission agreements typically require carriers to offer financial compensation to affiliates \u2013 either by paying to carry their signal or by providing advertising time to affiliates.<\/p>\n

\u201cDenver stations are indifferent to be carried in La Plata County,\u201d the official said. \u201cNielsen assigns the area to Albuquerque, and they (the Denver stations) have no desire to be carried in La Plata County or to lift a finger to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FCC official said the order would not allow satellite systems to carry the Denver affiliates\u2019 signal in Montezuma County because only La Plata County was part of the request to modify the satellite television market.<\/p>\n

However, the official said, it would be relatively easy for Montezuma County to piggyback on La Plata County\u2019s request if county officials also chose to petition the FCC to allow Denver affiliates to be shown there.<\/p>\n

\"A
A failure to negotiate private contracts, called retransmission agreements, between Denver network affiliates and satellite television providers is keeping Denver television from being aired in La Plata County, a situation that will be felt Sunday when the Denver Broncos game will not be shown on satellite systems in the county.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Weiser\"
Weiser<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser<\/a> said the FCC order addresses governmental obstacles to showing Denver TV in Durango but not private ones \u2013 like negotiating retransmission agreements among private parties and adjusting Nielsen Media Research\u2019s designated market areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is: Are they willing to address these private obstacles,\u201d Weiser said. \u201cWe\u2019re monitoring talks, and I\u2019m willing to nudge them along to come to an agreement. We\u2019ve made clear that the discussions have to move forward and come to a conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FCC\u2019s June 13 order essentially upheld a 2017 ruling that largely grants La Plata County\u2019s petition to allow satellite providers to show Denver stations: KDVR-TV, the Fox affiliate; KCNC-TV, the CBS affiliate; KMGH-TV, the ABC affiliate; and KUSA-TV, the NBC affiliate. The Albuquerque affiliates had challenged that 2017 ruling.<\/p>\n

The FCC spokesman said the situation for receiving Denver\u2019s Public Broadcasting Service signal, KRMA-TV in Denver<\/a>, is even less hopeful because PBS stations are required to be transmitted only in their Nielsen designated market area.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado residents have long complained that being placed in the Albuquerque television market means residents are provided inadequate television news coverage concerning important political, governmental, economic and cultural issues in Colorado. Also, residents express particular ire when the Albuquerque affiliates don\u2019t show the Broncos games, which happens about once every two years or so.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado residents didn\u2019t get the Broncos vs. Packers game Sunday because the Albuquerque FOX affiliate aired the Miami Dolphins vs. Dallas Cowboys game instead.<\/p>\n

Gary Arnett of Durango expressed frustration with the state of affairs \u2013 highlighted by the lack of coverage of the Broncos on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super-frustrating. It\u2019s a shame we have to live with these archaic laws,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Arnett said watching the game was important for the family because his wife is from Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a young son, so going to a sports bar isn\u2019t the most appropriate thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mark Cornetta, general manager of KUSA-TV<\/a>, the CBS affiliate in Denver, said the FCC order changed little in KUSA\u2019s ability to offer its signal to satellite customers in La Plata County because Southwest Colorado remains in the Albuquerque Nielson Media Research<\/a> market area. Until that changes, he said, KUSA has only limited ability to provide its signal in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

He said KUSA has negotiated for years with satellite companies and cable companies to carry its local programming in La Plata County.<\/p>\n

KUSA, he said, offers some local programming though Durango\u2019s cable company Spectrum<\/a>, which is the cable television brand of Charter Communications, but has not negotiated a retransmission agreement with the satellite providers.<\/p>\n

As long as La Plata County remains part of Nielson\u2019s designated market area, Cornetta said KUSA had only a limited ability to provide local programming to La Plata County through cable or satellite carriers, and they first must first a retransmission agreement.<\/p>\n

General managers for other Denver network affiliates did not return telephone calls seeking comment for this report.<\/p>\n

Ken Fellman, a communications lawyer in Denver, said, \u201cThis is speculation, but the affiliates didn\u2019t want this to happen. The Albuquerque affiliates challenged the original order. I think it\u2019s fair to speculate that they could use this (the lack of retransmission agreements) to keep the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Private contracts prevent stations from airing games in Southwest Colorado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5738,5737,5736,5735,5741,5817,6052,6053],"tags":[21,28,29,4259,2069,2460],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-66404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cortez","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","category-newsletter-sign-up","category-telecommunication-service","category-television-industry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-newsletter-sign-up","tag-telecommunication-service","tag-television-industry"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92444,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66404\/revisions\/92444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66404"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=66404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}