Cable TV provider Verizon and Tegna, the owner of the regional television affiliate WUSA, ended an impasse over a new contract late Thursday.
Verizon Fios customers in Montgomery County lost access to Channel 9 on New Year’s Day after the two sides could not reach an accord after their existing agreement expired.
Both parties announced they reach a “multi-year carriage agreement” on Thursday and Verizon returned the channel to its regional cable system in the evening. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Days before a weekend of NFL playoffs, Verizon Fios subscribers in Buffalo, New York, and Norfolk, Virginia, also lost access to network programs at TV stations also owned by Tegna, the broadcast unit spun off by the newspaper publisher Gannett.
Cable TV providers pay for content and access to programming from major production and media companies, such as Disney’s ESPN. Late last year, Verizon and Disney came to terms on a new contract, averting a blackout of some of its channels.
Verizon said it wasn’t willing to agree to Tegna’s call for nearly double its current monthly rates despite a decrease in broadcast television ratings, Verizon spokeswoman Adria Tomaszewski said. A statement by Verizon said the increases proposed by Tegna would force subscribers to undertake the additional costs, which the company was unwilling to do.
Verizon Fios has 4.5 million subscribers nationwide, Tomaszewski said. The company does not break down subscriptions by individual areas.
