But Time Warner has reached temporary agreements with stations outside the local market to supply most ABC and Fox broadcasts, at least through the end of February, said Michael Pedelty, a local spokesman for Time Warner.
“We might not have the local news, but we will have the Super Bowl,” Pedelty said.
Time Warner’s current agreement with Sinclair, covering 33 stations in 21 markets, was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Friday.
Pedelty said Time Warner remained open to negotiations, but he wasn’t aware that any progress had been made toward beating the deadline.
Disputes between broadcasters and the cable and satellite operators are cropping up more often.
Broadcast companies used to let cable providers carry their channels for free while making their money selling advertising time. But the recession caused some advertisers to cut spending, and the broadcasters are trying to charge cable operators higher fees to carry their programming.
In some cases, cable companies have resisted the broadcasters’ demands, leaving TV viewers caught in the crossfire. Earlier this year, Cablevision Systems Corp. customers went without Fox programming for 15 days and missed two World Series games.
One of the longest blackouts occurred in 2005, when about 75,000 cable customers in Texas, Missouri and Louisiana went without local NBC and ABC affiliate programming for nearly the entire year because of an impasse between the stations’ owner, Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., and cable systems.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About the Author