NBCUniversal Extends Carriage Deal Talks With Charter

NBCUniversal recently announced that they have extended their carriage deal talks with one of the leading cable television providers in the country, Charter Communications. This means that approximately 16 million homes in the United States that uses the Spectrum service will not be able to access the NBC owned channels yet.

In a recent statement, NBCUniversal said, “Negotiations with Charter Spectrum for the NBCUniversal portfolio of networks have been extended. We will continue to negotiate in good faith so that Charter Spectrum customers can continue to receive NBCUniversal’s valuable networks and we hope to be able to reach a deal.”

Reports indicate that the two companies have made progress in the last few weeks over the carriage deal and they are hopeful that they will be able to reach a fair settlement in a few days. Both parties were determined to resolve the difference between them in order to strike a new carriage deal. Charter promised that their customers would be able to access these channels within this week.

However, the blackout of NBC owned channels means that viewers will miss the coverage of KNBC-TV Channel 4 until the both parties reach a settlement. KNBC-TV Channel 4 will broadcast the most awaited NFL game between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. In addition to that, Charter Spectrum cable subscribers will not be able to the Spanish-language Telemundo Network and other channels such as CNBC, MSNBC, Golf Channel, NBC Sports, E!, Bravo, Syfy, and USA, at least for some time.

Controversial carriage contract negotiations between telecom providers and media companies have become a lot common lately. Charter Communications is the largest pay-TV provider in Los Angeles currently and the blackout of these channels might urge their subscribers to look for other options. Many customers have faced channel blackouts when both the parties failed to reach a fair settlement and many of them decided to cut the cord and choose lower-cost cable TV alternatives such as Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, and DirecTV Now.

On the other hand, many of the media giants like NBCUniversal are demanding more money for the contents especially for sports. For instance, NBC is paying NFL over 1 million per year in order to acquire the rights to broadcast Sunday Night Football and Thursday night games. Reports claim that media companies demand higher fees from distributors to help them pay for the contents.