Dish Network, Sinclair Broadcast agree on short-term TV contract extension, averting blackout

Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group have reached an agreement extending their contract, enabling the satellite TV provider to broadcast Sinclair's local channels and averting a possible blackout.

Dish announced Sunday the eleventh-hour agreement on a short-term extension. The contract was set to expire at midnight Eastern time Saturday. Dish said the agreement saved millions of customers from losing access to 153 local channels in 79 markets across the country.

The extension allows Dish Network Corp. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. to continue negotiating a new retransmission agreement. Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Sinclair is one of the largest TV broadcasting companies in the U.S., owning local stations affiliated with all the major networks.

Englewood, Colorado-based Dish, which has nearly 14 million subscribers, didn't specify the term of the extension.