More than a dozen Nexstar stations could be dropped by Fios by the end of this week if the two sides don’t come to a new carriage agreement. Fios’s contract with Nexstar expires on Friday, Oct. 14 and the two have yet to agree on new terms, with Fios claiming that Nexstar is proposing a 64% increase.
Fios has released the following statement:
“At Fios TV, we want our customers to experience the best in news, entertainment and sports programming. Our contract with Nexstar ends on October 14, 2022 and your Fios TV package contains Nexstar channels. We are working hard to negotiate with them to reach a new agreement. However, Nexstar has proposed charging over 64% more for its programming. Verizon remains committed to making these channels available to our customers, but simply cannot agree to such unreasonable increases.”
Nexstar responded:
“Nexstar is simply seeking fair market rates for the live sports, local news, and high-quality entertainment programming we provide to millions of viewers across the country. We have a long track record of negotiating fairly and avoiding service interruptions in our markets and we hope to reach agreement with Verizon FiOS. We don’t want the viewers in our local markets to miss any of this weekend’s college or NFL football games, or any of the other valuable programming we provide.”
A total of 15 stations on the east coast including those in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as well as Nexstar’s Newsnation cable news service could be dropped from the Fios lineup if an agreement is not reached by midnight Friday.
Carriage disagreements that occur during the NFL/college football season tend to up the pressure for both parties to resolve their disputes quickly. Fios had another carriage dispute with Tegna earlier this year, which resulted in Tegna's stations being removed from Fios during the all-important NFL playoff season. An agreement was reached after several days.
