NCTC, AMC Networks Try To Avert Blackout

AMC Networks continue to negotiate to avoid a New Year’s blackout with small cable operators represented by the NCTC, but the head of the group expects some won’t reach an agreement.

Rich Fickle, CEO of the National Cable Television Cooperative, said that after the NCTC filed complaints with the FCC over some of AMC’s tactics, it had a productive day of discussions with the programmer in New York last week and continued conversations over the holiday weekend.

“Have we solved the Rubik’s Cube on this one? No we have not. We’re still trying to figure out how to make this work for our members,” Fickle said.

Read more at B&C.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.