Nearly three dozen Tribune Media television stations, including KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles, went dark Wednesday afternoon on Charter Communications’ Spectrum pay-TV service after the two companies failed to reach agreement on a new distribution deal.
Customers in more than 6 million Charter Spectrum cable TV homes nationwide — including 1.5 million in the Los Angeles region — were swept up in the latest fee dispute between two major TV companies. The two sides have spent nearly two weeks in a tense standoff over Tribune Media’s proposed fee increase for the right to carry the company’s programming as part of the Spectrum pay-TV packages.
Viewers in Los Angeles could miss KTLA’s popular morning newscasts. Tribune’s KSWB Channel 5 station in San Diego, which carries Fox network programming, also is included in the outage.
The companies’ previous distribution contract expired at 9 p.m. Monday, but the two sides agreed to a short-term extension to bridge the New Year’s holiday and give themselves time to work out a new deal. But that extension expired at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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