Verizon and Hearst Television signed an overnight agreement to prevent nine Hearst-operated stations, including those in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the Boston area, from going dark on Verizon Fios systems. No details were released on Friday about the new retransmission contract, which replaces the old one, which was due to expire on December 31st.
A Verizon spokesperson confirmed the deal at Deadline today after media reports that the company sent a message to subscribers that the deal had been closed.
Hearst stations in Fios include WBAL-NBC in Baltimore, WGAL-NBC in Harrisburg, PA, WTAE-ABC in Pittsburgh, and WCVB-ABC and WMUR-ABC in Boston / Manchester. The channel program also offers content from MeTV and Cozi TV.
Verizon, the sixth largest operator in the country, warned customers earlier this week that a power outage was possible and said Hearst was calling for a 45% increase that would skyrocket customers’ monthly bills.
Hearst owns and operates television and radio stations in 26 markets in 39 states and reaches a total of 21 million US television households.
Verizon announced Friday that a retrans agreement with Gray Television expired on December 31st, affecting two broadcasters in Richmond, VA – WWBT-NBC and WUVP-CW.
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