Cable One, NBC Sports Network avert blackout, sign six-month carriage extension

Officials for Phoenix, Ariz.-based Cable One say they have reached a temporary licensing agreement with NBCUniversal to keep the NBC Sports Network on its program guide for the next six months. 

In June, the MSO released a statement, indicating negotiations for carriage renewal of the channel were going down to the wire. 

"Cable One is in negotiations with NBC Sports Network (on our Digital Value Pack) for the right to continue carriage of their channel," the statement read. "Our agreement expires at midnight on 6/30/14.  Cable One is committed to avoiding disruption to our customers and will attempt to reach a new agreement with NBC Sports Network before that time."

With the NHL Playoffs completed, NBC Sports Network is hunkering down on coverage of the not-always loftily rated Tour de France this weekend.

For its part, Cable One--which serves around 730,000 subscribers in 19 states across the Western U.S.--can ill-afford to lose any more programming. Cable One pulled Viacom channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET and Comedy Central, off its service in April after failing to come to an agreement to extend a carriage deal that expired March 31. Viacom responded by blocking anyone with a Cable One domain name from accessing its free streaming content. 

Cable One, owned by Graham Holdings Company, responded in turn by adding a collection of not-as-popular channels--BBC America, Sprout, Investigation Discovery, The Blaze, Hallmark Channel, National Geographic, TV One and the Sundance Channel--to its lineup. As of Friday, the Viacom channels had still not returned to Cable One's program guide

For more:
- read this New York Post story

Related links:
Cable One preps replacements for Viacom channels
Cable One drops 54K video subscribers in 2013; Starz boasts 22M total subs
Cable One, Turner sign deal, end blackout