Nexstar Outlets does not comment on Altices Optimum in the carriage dispute

Nexstar’s WPIX in New York and NewsNation are among the TV shows no longer appearing on Altice’s cable networks due to the recent carriage dispute that has erupted in the industry.

Nexstar said Friday that 63 of its local television stations in 42 markets across the U.S. had ceased operations due to a contract disagreement. Altice had around 2.03 million pay TV subscribers as of the third quarter of 2024.

“Altice has consistently made unreasonable and unprecedented demands on Nexstar, culminating in the decision to terminate negotiations,” said Michael Biard, president and chief operating officer of Nexstar. “We understand Altice’s difficult financial situation, burdened by billions of dollars in debt, but the solution is not to force Optimum subscribers to continually pay more and get less in return.”

Altice said it offered a tentative extension during ongoing negotiations, but it was rejected by Nexstar.

“Unfortunately, Nexstar is using an anti-consumer negotiating tactic – linking local channels to less popular ones – and requiring Optimum and its customers to pay for channels like NewsNation, which have virtually no viewership, in order to continue offering Nexstar channels in various markets across the country,” Altice said in a statement.

Altice, which counts major New York cable systems on its Optimum service, is also in a carriage dispute with MSG Networks, led by James L. Dolan, whose family formerly operated Cablevision, which Altice bought in 2015 for $17.7 billion . Altice USA is based in Long Island, New York.

Nexstar said it had been in what it called “good faith negotiations” with Altice since October, but noted that the provider had demanded “special terms” that were completely at odds with our long-standing relationship and the cable television market. Disputes between network operators, media companies and broadcaster owners have become more common in recent years as subscribers migrate away from traditional television and turn to streaming services instead.

Altice serves several communities in and around the New York metropolitan area and the Southern and Midwestern United States