Cox Communications said it has reached a retransmission consent agreement with Midwest Television, the parent of CBS affiliate KFMB in San Diego, after the station went dark for 4 ½ hours on Dec. 16 over a fee impasse.
In a brief statement Friday, Cox said it had reached a deal with Midwest and that programming would return to its customers. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We regret the recent disruption in service and appreciate our customers' patience and support as we sought to reach an agreement reasonable to our business and our customers,” Cox said in the statement.
On KFMB’s we site, it too confirmed that a deal had been reached at about 4:30 p.m. The station returned in plenty of time for Cox subscribers in the area to watch Sunday’s National Football League contest between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. (Oakland won, 19-16).
“GREAT NEWS! Thank you for your patience and for your continued support of CBS 8 here in San Diego. We are pleased to announce that CBS 8 programming is now available on Cox Cable!,” KFMB said on its website.
The two appeared to be ready to fight this one out for the long haul, with Cox claiming at about 12:00 p.m. on Dec. 16 that the station went dark after KFMB demanded a 1,000% increase in retrans fees.
KFMB has a history as a tough negotiator. Last year the station went dark for three weeks to DirecTV customers.
