• by Wayne Friedman , October 9, 2009

CBS Corp. announced another large retransmission deal for its programming -- this one with Cablevision Systems.

Earlier this year, CBS made a big multi-year deal with Time Warner.

Somewhat slower to conclude, the deal with Cablevision means some 3 million subscribers in Northeast markets -- New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- will continue to receive WCBS New York and Philadelphia outlets KYW (CBS) and WPSG (a CW affiliate).

The agreement also means carriage for cable networks CBS College Sports Network and the Smithsonian Channel. Terms of the deal -- including the length of the contract -- were not disclosed.

Back in January, after CBS announced a major cable-transmission deal with Time Warner Cable, CBS CEO Les Moonves told analysts he hoped to reach a deal with Cablevision soon.

The next big challenge for CBS is working on a new retransmission deal with the biggest cable operator in the U.S., Comcast Corp., according to executives. A current deal with Comcast expires in 2012.

CBS has said it expected to grab $250 million in total retransmission deals in 2012. One analyst estimates that CBS pulled in $26 million from retrans deals in 2008.

Before the Time Warner deal, CBS had made about 25 deals, mostly with small and mid-size cable operators. Roughly, CBS has been getting paid 50 cents per subscriber for their TV station deals, according to most industry estimates.