Tegna, Verizon Retrans Talks Extended to January 4

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Deal for five stations extended to 6 p.m. Tuesday

Tegna
(Image credit: Tegna)

Tegna and Verizon Communications said they have agreed to extend their retransmission consent negotiations for a handful of stations in five markets until 6 p.m. January 4, holding out some hope that a long-term deal can be reached.

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The talks involve Tegna stations in Washington, D.C. (CBS affiliate WUSA); Norfolk, Virginia (ABC affiliate WVEC); Buffalo, New York (NBC affiliate WGRZ); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Fox affiliate WPMT) and Hartford, Connecticut (Fox affiliate WTIC). The retrans agreements for the stations were originally set to expire at 5 p.m. on December 31. According to a Verizon spokesperson, both sides agreed to an extension to 6 p.m. January 4 and continue to negotiate.

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Those stations are among more than 60 Tegna stations in 53 markets currently embroiled in a retransmission dispute with Dish Network. The Tegna stations went dark to about 3 million Dish customers on October 6. So far, there is no sign that a deal is imminent.  ■ 

Mike Farrell
Mike Farrell

Mike Farrell is senior content producer, finance for Multichannel News/B+C, covering finance, operations and M&A at cable operators and networks across the industry. He joined Multichannel News in September 1998 and has written about major deals and top players in the business ever since. He also writes the On The Money blog, offering deeper dives into a wide variety of topics including, retransmission consent, regional sports networks,and streaming video. In 2015 he won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Profile, an in-depth look at the Syfy Network’s Sharknado franchise and its impact on the industry.