News Corp.'s programming units have agreed to extend their
carriage deadline with Suddenlink Communications until 11:59 p.m. Central Time
on Jan. 3 as the two sides continue to try to hammer out a deal.
Fox stations in Los Angeles (KTTV); Phoenix (KSAZ); Memphis
(WHBQ); Houston (KRIV); Dallas (KDFW) and Austin (KTBC); My Network TV stations
in Houston (KTXH); Dallas (KDFI); and Phoenix (KUTP); as well as cable networks
FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Speed, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Fox
Movie Channel, Fox Deportes, Fox College Sports and several regional sports
networks were originally set to go dark at 5 p.m. Jan. 2 if
a deal wasn't reached. The extension appears to show that some progress is
being made. Not part of the negotiations are Fox News Channel and Fox Business
Network, which are under a separate carriage agreement with the MSO.
"We continue to negotiate with them in good faith and are
making progress toward an agreement," Suddenlink said in a statement.
Suddenlink has said that Fox is demanding as much as a 25%
increase in pricing for the channels.
Fox declined to comment about the ongoing negotiations but a
spokesman for the programmer confirmed that an extension had been granted.
