
Altice USA’s pay television provider Optimum TV has settled its distribution dispute with Nexstar Media Group, restoring around five dozen local stations and the cable news channel NewsNation to its platform.
Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed in a press release on Saturday, but Optimum previously accused Nexstar of attempting to charge higher fees for its channels and for attempting to renegotiate carriage of a Phoenix-area CW Network affiliate that it does not outright own.
A spokesperson for Optimum said the new agreement “puts customers first and allows them to have more flexibility and optionality when choosing their desired content.” It wasn’t exactly clear if that meant customers would be able to add or remove certain channels owned by Nexstar. The company previously accused Nexstar of demanding more money for NewsNation, despite its relatively low viewership on Optimum TV.
The dispute with Nexstar was the second to afflict Altice USA since the start of the new year. On January 1, the company was forced to remove MSG Networks from its cable systems in the New York City area after a distribution agreement with Sphere Entertainment lapsed. Altice USA’s New York cable system was previously co-owned by the company that founded MSG Networks.