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Cox, Nextar end retrans row to avoid Super Bowl blackout
Joseph O'Halloran
| 08 February 2016
Cox Communications has agreed to terms on a new broadcast retransmission deal with Nexstar Broadcasting Group, ending a five-day blackout that threatened to pre-empt the Super Bowl in several key US markets.
Nexstar had blacked out Cox in nine markets, including Las Vegas, home of CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, accusing the cable company of making "mischaracterisations" of the station owner, and threatened it with a cease and desist order on making future comments.
Earlier, Cox publicly asked federal regulators to reject Nexstar's $4.6 billion acquisition of Media General. Prior to Cox's statement, Nexstar had given Cox until 29 January to carve out a renewal to an expiring retrans contract, otherwise it said it would black out nine network affiliates on the MSO.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed but in a statement Cox said: "Today, [we have] reached an agreement with Nexstar for retransmission consent of their channels on our line-up. Programming will return to the Cox line-up in all impacted markets. We appreciate our customers' patience and support as we sought to reach an agreement on behalf of our customers."
For its part, Nexstar added: "[Our] top priority is providing exceptional programming and service to local viewers, hometown businesses, and public organisations in the local communities it serves across the United States ... Nexstar is delighted that Cox subscribers in its markets will have restored access to leading network content from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW and MyNetworkTV as well as local news and other programming produced specifically for local communities."
Joseph O'Halloran
| 08 February 2016
Cox Communications has agreed to terms on a new broadcast retransmission deal with Nexstar Broadcasting Group, ending a five-day blackout that threatened to pre-empt the Super Bowl in several key US markets.
Nexstar had blacked out Cox in nine markets, including Las Vegas, home of CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, accusing the cable company of making "mischaracterisations" of the station owner, and threatened it with a cease and desist order on making future comments.
Earlier, Cox publicly asked federal regulators to reject Nexstar's $4.6 billion acquisition of Media General. Prior to Cox's statement, Nexstar had given Cox until 29 January to carve out a renewal to an expiring retrans contract, otherwise it said it would black out nine network affiliates on the MSO.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed but in a statement Cox said: "Today, [we have] reached an agreement with Nexstar for retransmission consent of their channels on our line-up. Programming will return to the Cox line-up in all impacted markets. We appreciate our customers' patience and support as we sought to reach an agreement on behalf of our customers."
For its part, Nexstar added: "[Our] top priority is providing exceptional programming and service to local viewers, hometown businesses, and public organisations in the local communities it serves across the United States ... Nexstar is delighted that Cox subscribers in its markets will have restored access to leading network content from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW and MyNetworkTV as well as local news and other programming produced specifically for local communities."
