In Illinois and elsewhere, companies often enter into contracts and agreements that may affect the general public in certain ways. Contract disputes between those companies may cause inconveniences to customers who pay for certain types of service which, due to the disputes, may be disrupted. One such situation developed recently between AT&T and Griffin Communications. It may cause some cable subscribers in another state to lose some of their viewing channels.
Apparently, the companies disagree about just how much AT&T should pay for television programming on a channel that airs popular specials, such as the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl. If a resolution is not reached by a certain time, cable subscribers in the area will not only lose their local station but the CBS network, as well. A chief operations officer from Griffin Communications stated that the company has not made any unreasonable requests and wants only to be treated fairly in the matter.
Griffin Communications also owns several other television stations. Reportedly, two stations were canceled because of a similar dispute earlier in 2015. Some say that such conflicts are becoming common-place because affiliates are having to fight for fair prices for their viewing signals. AT&T has been accused of being willing to pay more to the bigger companies that are connected to channels with larger viewing audiences.
Unresolved contract disputes may result in angry customers when company disagreements cause inconvenience to the general public. There are times when Illinois company owners seem unable to solve their contract problems without legal intervention. In such circumstances, an attorney with experience in handling business and commercial law issues would be able to review a situation and offer guidance as to how best to proceed to protect a company’s best interests and resolve the issues at hand.
Source: kgou.org, “AT&T Cable Subscribers Could Lose News 9 Over Contract Dispute“, Adam Brooks, Dec. 29, 2015
