Update: Comcast and two TV stations avoid Fresno-area blackouts with new agreement

UPDATE: Nexstar Media Group came to an agreement with Comcast, avoiding a blackout that would have removed KSEE24 and CBS47 from Fresno airwaves.

The deal was signed just before a Dec. 15 deadline, according to NextTV.com.

ORIGINAL STORY: A contract dispute between Comcast and Nexstar Media Group may spell a blackout for two Fresno-area TV channels.

Over the weekend, dozens of Nexstar-owned TV stations began airing warnings that they could be removed from Comcast services if a new carrier agreement cannot be reached.

“The stations and their associated digital broadcast networks would be removed from Xfinity cable, Xfinity Stream and Xfinity X1 systems,” according to the media-news site The Desk.

In Fresno, KSEE 24, an NBC affiliate, and KGPE 47, a CBS affiliate, would be affected.

“KSEE has a contract with Comcast that allows them to deliver our programming to you,” the station wrote in a link on its website.

“KSEE has presented a proposal for fair value based on the importance and value our programming brings our viewers. Despite our tireless efforts, Comcast has refused our fair offer and is making negotiations very difficult.”

The station says that Comcast is holding its subscribers “hostage.”

At risk for area Comcast/Xfinity users is all of NBC and CBS programming.

That’s everything from “NFL Sunday Night Football” and “America’s Got Talent” to the full slate of NBC’s Chicago-based first responder programming, plus NBC national and KSEE 24 local newscasts. For CBS, the loss would include its Eyewitness newscasts, plus NFL and NCAA basketball games and original programming like “FBI,” “Young Sheldon” and “Ghosts.”

Viewers are being urged to contact Comcast and demand the stations remain in the channel lineup uninterrupted.

For its part, Comcast said on its website it “has successfully renegotiated thousands of expiring contracts over the years and rarely experienced an interruption of service,” but “once a channel contract expires, we no longer have the right to carry that channel and associated on-demand content on our platforms.”

Both KSEE 24 and CBS 47 are listed as channels with contracts that have recently or may soon expire.

So far, there is no confirmed date for when the companies’ agreement expires, though it’s likely mid-December, according to a post from the TV Answer Man.

This isn’t the first time Nexstar has been involved in a prolonged contract dispute with a carrier. A dispute in 2019 kept DirecTV/AT&T customers from access to KSEE 24 and CBS 47 for more than a month.

Messages to both Nexstar Media Inc. and Comcast were not returned.

This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 3:24 PM.