AMC Networks and the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), a coalition of independent and mostly rural cable operators, celebrated New Year’s by negotiating far into the night and still not coming up with a new carriage agreement.

AMC is seeking rate and distribution increases for its networks, which include AMC, SundanceTV, IFC, We TV, BBC America and BBC World News. AMC Networks want higher license fees, in particular, for AMC because it’s home to some of cable’s biggest hits, most notably The Walking Dead, which returns for season 6 on February 14. AMC is believed to be paid far less by operators than they pay for AMC’s rivals, including USA, TNT and FX, reports Variety. The rate increases that AMC is seeking are as much as 150 percent higher.

NCTC’s members also are balking at agreeing to broader distribution for AMC’s smaller networks at a time when subscribers are both cord-cutting and subscribing to so-called skinny bundles. Cable operators want to have options as their businesses shift to these new models.

Should AMC Networks and NCTC not be able to come to an agreement, NCTC’s member operators will be forced to black out AMC’s offerings from subscribers. At least one operator, Anchorage-based General Communication Inc., already has shut off the networks, blaming AMC for demanding “massive fee increases,” says Variety.

Brief Take: These sorts of disputes are particularly bad for cable operators because consumers tend to blame them for blackouts, even if the blackouts are happening because operators are trying to prevent programming-induced price increases.

Read more: Variety, Deadline

[Cube image courtesy of AMC via Variety]

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