Nexstar stores go dark on Altice’s optimal transportation dispute
Nexstar’s WPIX in New York and NewsNation are among the TV properties no longer seen on Altice-owned cable systems, in the latest carriage dispute to erupt in the industry.
Nexstar said Friday that 63 of its local TV stations in 42 U.S. markets had gone dark due to a contract disagreement. Altice had approximately 2.03 million pay TV subscribers in the third quarter of 2024.
“Altice has consistently made unreasonable and unprecedented demands on Nexstar, culminating in their decision to walk away from negotiations,” said Michael Biard, president and chief operating officer of Nexstar. “We understand the difficulty of Altice’s financial situation, which is burdened with billions in debt, but the solution is not to force Optimum subscribers to continually pay more while getting less.”
Altice, which counts major cable systems in New York as part of its Optimum service, is also embroiled in a transportation dispute with MSG Networks, led by James L. Dolan, whose family operated Cablevision, which Altice bought for $17.7 billion in 2015 . Altice USA is located in Long Island, New York.
Nexstar said it has been in “good faith negotiations” with Altice since October, but indicated the airline had demanded “special terms that are wildly out of step with both our long-standing relationship and the cable TV market.” Disputes between airlines, media companies and channel owners have become increasingly common in recent years as subscribers move away from traditional TV and adopt streaming services instead.
Altice serves several communities in and around the New York metropolitan area, as well as the Southern and Midwestern U.S.
