CBS and Time Warner Cable have agreed to take a little more time to hammer out an agreement in the retransmission dispute that threatens to remove CBS and Showtime from homes in Los Angeles, New York and Texas.
The two parties have agreed to extend their negotiations through July 29 at 5 p.m. ET.
The negotiations initially had a deadline of Wednesday, but that deadline was extended until 9 a.m. ET Thursday, due to FCC rules that bar cable providers from dropping a network during sweeps periods.
Also read: CBS-Time Warner Cable Retrans Dispute: Deadline Extended, but Rhetoric Heats Up
The potential blackout would affect 3.5 million homes, approximately 29 percent of Time Warner Cable's video subscriptions.
CBS contends that it's under-compensated for its content, and is compensated less than other networks that draw fewer viewers. In an internal memo circulated to CBS staff on Tuesday, CBS Corporation president and CEO Les Moonves opined that Time Warner Cable could afford to raise CBS's compensation without passing on costs to the consumer.
Also read: CBS's Standoff With Time Warner Cable Heats Up; Blackouts Could Happen Next Week
Time Warner Cable has countered that its compensation rates are based on "a variety of factors," and that other providers are grappling with balancing costs.
""We’re not the only ones — everyone is having these problems," TWC said Tuesday.