Suddenlink Communications said it signed a long-term deal with Temple, Texas, NBC affiliate KCEN-TV, and that it hopes to add the station to the cable lineups of customers who have been without an NBC affiliate since Dec. 31.
“KCEN is an excellent TV station that we carry in other cable systems,” said Todd Cruthird, the vice president of operations for Suddenlink’s Texoma Region. “We are delighted to now make this station and the NBC programming it offers available to our customers in Georgetown and nearby areas.”
Suddenlink dropped Lin-TV’s KXAN-TV station on Dec. 31 after failing to reach a distribution agreement with the NBC affiliate.
“Our past success in reaching agreements with other TV station owners gave us every confidence we would be able to reach an agreement with LIN-TV,” Cruthird said. “Unfortunately, LIN-TV declined repeated offers we made to them, refused to provide an extension so we could keep negotiating, and then forced us to remove KXAN. Immediately, we attempted to re-start negotiations with LIN.”
