Cox Cable Customers May Lose KEYT

Though they’re reportedly close to reaching an agreement, KEYT and Cox Communications have been at odds for the past five weeks over terms of a renewed contract that would permit the cable provider to keep beaming Channel 3’s signal to nearly 70,000 South Coast homes. KEYT announced Thursday afternoon that if no deal is brokered, the station will go dark on Sunday at midnight when the ABC affiliate’s current agreement with Cox expires. (Read KEYT’s online message to viewers below.)

Smith Media, LLC — which owns and operates KEYT, and is in the portfolio of East Coast private equity firm Boston Ventures — is playing serious hardball, “demanding outrageous fees” that are out of step not only with market rates and what other programmers are requesting but also with the terms Smith Media and Cox Communications have settled on in the past, said Sarah Clark with Cox public affairs. She couldn’t discuss dollar figures, but said Cox’s main concern is to successfully negotiate a deal that won’t mean higher rates for customers.

Michael Granados, KEYT’s general manager and Smith Media’s CEO, described the prickly situation in different terms, saying both sides are negotiating in good faith and that he hopes for and expects an amicable resolution. “I want to make it clear that this is not a disagreement,” he said.