Nexstar & Optimum Reach Carriage Agreement After Standoff​on January 18, 2025 at 5:09 pm

After multiple stations went dark last week, Nexstar has reached a carriage agreement with Altice USA.

The partnership agreement was announced Saturday, and although the terms were not released, programming has already been restored to two million subscribers of Optimum TV, which is owned by the U.S. arm of French telecom giant Altice.

Last week, 63 Nexstar Media Group local stations and cable network NewsNation went dark due to the carriage dispute.

Like other pay-TV operators, Altice has struggled with cord-cutting and has articulated a view about the video business being less essential than it has historically been given growth in its broadband and wireless operations. Patrick Drahi, the European tycoon who runs parent company Altice, is burdened by significant debt and shrinking valuations for some of his key holdings.

The impasse came during a crowded period for college football and NFL playoff games. The CW, which is owned by Nexstar, also has the largest concentration of affiliates under the Nexstar roof, and has been putting up solid viewership numbers for primetime draws like WWE NXT and All-American.

WPIX, the flagship CW station, is a significant part of the Optimum dispute given the pay-TV system’s heavy concentration in the New York Tri-State area. In all, 42 markets are affected by the fight. Along with New York, markets with at least 10% penetration by the local Nexstar affiliate on Optimum include Greenville, NC; Lubbock, TX; Alexandria, LA; Hartford, CT; Clarksburg, WV, according to a person familiar with the system map.

Major markets including L.A. and Las Vegas also have Nexstar affiliates, though the total number of subscribers is fairly small.