• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 28, 2013

Facing a June 30 deadline, Media General and Dish Network reached an agreement preventing the possible blackout of 17 stations on the satellite operator. The station group has agreed to give Dish a 90-day extension on the retransmission consent agreement scheduled to lapse over the weekend as negotiations continue.

Media General owns the NBC stations in Tampa, Raleigh-Durham, Columbus, Ohio and Providence, as well as eight CBS affiliates, one ABC station and a CW outlet that gives it a duopoly in Charleston, S.C.

Jim Conschafter, vice president of broadcast markets at Media General, stated the company’s stations are “important assets to our local communities. Efforts are underway to “continue to do everything we can to negotiate a fair, market-based agreement.”

There is some heightened incentive for parties to avoid retrans consent disputes that prompt service disruptions, as Congress has taken an increasing interest in the matter. Dish could be impacted as Congress moves to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA).

At a hearing earlier this year, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-California) suggested that the retrans rules might need reform via STELA or elsewhere.

“Simply put, consumers should not be held hostage when negotiators fail to come to an agreement … it’s (a) where are the adults in the room kind of thing,” she said.