Northwest Broadcasting and AT&T have ended their eight-month retransmission consent dispute, with the broadcaster’s 18 stations beginning to return to the DirecTV lineup.

Northwest stations in 10 markets went dark to AT&T pay TV customers on Feb. 22 after the two couldn’t reach an agreement.

In a statement on its station websites Thursday, Northwest said that it has reached a long-term deal with AT&T. Terms were not disclosed.

“Northwest regrets the inconvenience this has placed on our valued viewers,” the broadcaster said in the statement. “Resumption of carriage may vary from market-to-market as it is at the discretion of DirecTV.”

An AT&T spokesman confirmed that a deal had been reached and said the stations began returning to its lineup on Thursday evening. The company had no further comment. 

After more than four months and some pretty serious name-calling, Charter Communications and Northwest Broadcasting ended their retransmission consent dispute Friday, with Charter customers expected to regain access to Northwest’s stations later today.

The Northwest stations went dark to Charter customers on Feb. 2.

In a statement Friday, Charter said it was working to restore Northwest’s signals to its Spectrum TV customers.

The dispute affected about 11 Fox, NBC and CBS affiliated stations in the Northwest and Northeast portions of the country, including: KAYU-TV (Fox) in Spokane, Wash.; KJRW-TV (CBS) in Eureka, Calif.; KFFX-TV (Fox) in Yakima, Wash; KMVU-TV (Fox) in Medford, Ore.; WICZ-TV (Fox) in Binghamton, N.Y.; WSYT-TV (Fox) in Syracuse, N.Y.; KPVI-TV (NBC) in Idaho Falls and KTVZ-TV (NBC) in Bend, Oregon.

“We’re pleased to have reached a fair agreement with Northwest Broadcasting,” Charter said. “We’re working to restore signals, and expect to have programming back on for customers shortly.”

In a statement on its website, Northwest CEO Brian Brady announced that a deal had been reached but offered no details.

“Spectrum’s plans are to return the stations to the lineup sometime Friday, June 8,” the website said. 

The tone was quite different earlier in the dispute, when Brady called out Charter CEO Tom Rutledge in a blog posting in February, claiming Charter wouldn’t negotiate with the broadcaster, made up conversations concerning potential offers and deprived viewers of the ability to watch the Super Bowl while, he assumed, Rutledge was watching the game live in “a luxury box in Minneapolis.” Brady continued that the blackout was occurring because Rutledge” doesn’t care about and has no respect for you.” 

Charter later sued one of the municipalities caught up in the dispute -- the city of El Centro, Calif., which had filed a Federal Communications Commission complaint claiming they were not properly notified in advance of the stations going dark.    

Charter Communications has filed suit against the city of El Centro, Calif., saying the city was unlawfully interfering with its ongoing commercial dispute with Northwest Broadcasting.

Charter said that in addition to filing an unwarranted complaint against it at the FCC, the city the city invoked a 20-year-old code, since preempted by state law, and started issuing citations and monetary penalties alleging Charter had failed to give requisite notice to customers of the blackout and had discriminated against those customers by not providing the Northwest stations during that blackout.

Charter says the city's action has hardened Northwest's negotiating position

Charter wants the court to declare that the city code is preempted and unenforceable and that the city can't force charter to carry the Northwest stations.

Northwest Broadcasting president Brian Brady said that the broadcaster submitted a new proposal in that impasse this week and had reached out to Spectrum, but had not heard back.

He also took issue with some of the suits claims, including that it was Northwest that prompted the blackout following two extensions.

The cities of Yuma, Ariz., and El Centro, Calif., and the town of Jackson, Wyo., jointly filed a complaint with the FCC two weeks ago against Charter/Spectrum systems in their respective municipalities -- originally Bresnan and Time Warner Cable Pacific West systems -- over removal of Northwest Broadcasting TV stations in a carriage-fee dispute.

The complaint asserted that the cities and the customers of the Charter-owned systems involved did not get notice of the station's removal until after the fact, in violation of the FCC requirement that they get 30 days advanced notice. Northwest stations went off Charter systems on Feb. 2. 

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based startup billing itself as a next-generation cable operator, said Northwest Broadcasting founder and CEO Brian Brady has joined its Content Advisory Board.

In that role, Brady will spearhead Layer3 TV’s partnerships with top local broadcasters, and report to Lindsay Gardner, the former Fox Networks exec who was named chair of Layer3 TV’s content-focused board last October, the startup said.

“Brian is a leader in the television industry, trusted by his NAB board colleagues and network affiliate station owners across the country,” Gardner said, in a statement. “We look forward to Brian’s expertise and counsel as Layer3 TV pursues local broadcaster partnerships.”

“Layer3 TV’s next generation cable systems will support and strengthen my fellow broadcasters,” added Brady, who has served on the NAB board since 2009 and had served on the FOX Affiliate board for nine years. “It’s a credit to Layer3 TV that they sought me out as an advocate for local stations.  I’m looking forward to sharing more with my broadcasting friends and colleagues.”  

Brady is also President of Eagle Creek Broadcasting, owner of the CBS affiliate in Laredo, Texas, and serves on several boards of public companies and startups including IZEA, Inc., a social media sponsorship company, and SumTV, a marketplace for brands to meet emerging and professional creative talent.

Founded in 2013 by cable vets Dave Fellows and Jeff Binder, Layer3 TV opened its new Denver headquarters on Sept. 15, 2014, and also operates out of Boston. The startup has raised about $21 million and has been secretive about its specific plans and approach, but is expected to launch services later this year.

Of recent note, Layer3 TV picked SeaChange International as a key vendor for its coming in-home platform, which evidently will include a 4K-capable IP set-top.