Fox Might Pull Some Networks Off-Air This Weekend Due To Contract Dispute

In a hilarious attack ad, the company warns Fox Sports and others may go dark.

Fox Networks Group has threatened to pull some of its networks off-air as contract negotiations with major cable provider Charter Communications continue to stall.

That’s bad news for sports fans ― and anyone keeping up with “Feud.”

While Fox News and the Fox broadcast network would not be affected, Deadline reports, FX would go dark along with National Geographic, Fox Sports and 19 regional sports channels for subscribers to Charter’s Spectrum service, formerly known as Time Warner Cable.

With all the cheesy histrionics of a political attack ad, Fox Networks warned in a clip aired in affected markets that the outage would come during the NBA and NHL playoffs and certain MLB games. (Watch it above.) Episodes of “The Americans,” “Feud” and “Fargo” on FX would also not be accessible, should the blackout continue.

A carriage agreement between Fox Networks and Charter expired March 31, Variety reported. Because the two sides have failed to reach a deal so far, Fox claims that Charter is in breach. The cable provider purchased Time Warner Cable in May 2016, and rebranded it shortly after.

In a statement provided to Variety, Fox points out several teams whose coverage could be affected, including the St. Louis Cardinals and Blues, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Cavaliers and Cincinnati Reds along with “many other” games.

Fox isn’t the first network group to have problems negotiating with Charter, however. Earlier this year, Univision networks went dark for about 36 hours ― affecting about 2.5 million Latinx homes in the U.S., according to the Los Angeles Times ― until a judge stepped in. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

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