Univision programming has been blacked out for subscribers of Charter Communications, effective at midnight.
“Charter has continually rejected all of Univision's repeated, good-faith efforts to reach an agreement. As a result, Charter has decided to deny its subscribers continued access to Hispanic America’s most popular entertainment and sports and most trusted new content,” Univision said in a statement.
Before their agreement expired, Univision sued Charter accusing Charter of improperly looking to pay lower rates after acquiring Time Warner Cable. Fox News filed a similar suit last year.
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“Charter's recent acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House, making it the second largest cable and broadband company in the U.S., gives it immense marketplace power,” Univision said. “Given the size of the distribution platforms that it controls, Charter has an obligation to its customers to provide them with access to content that is in-language and in-culture, which is vitally important during these politically volatile times.”
Univision said it was ready to resume negotiation and that it hopes “Charter will do what is right for its Hispanic customers.”
Charter said there was no change in its position. "We have a contract with Univision and we expect them to honor it," the company said.
