North Country TV viewers remain out of luck as the latest round of negotiations fizzled between Time Warner Cable and WMUR’s parent company, Hearst Corporation.

WMUR’s Alex Jasiukowicz said Tuesday in an email that “Hearst offered to meet Time Warner halfway, splitting the difference between the proposals, but our offer was refused. Time Warner chose instead to hold its customers hostage to gain negotiating leverage.”

At issue is the cost of carrying programming. The three-year contract between the two expired June 30. Jasiukowicz said Time Warner pulled the plug on WMUR July 9 at 11:59 p.m., leaving some viewers in the dark.

“In nearly 20 years of securing these types of agreements, this is our company’s first significant outage,” Jasiukowicz wrote. “By contrast, Time Warner has caused numerous outages of broadcasters over the years, making unreasonable demands of local television stations.”

“In the past we’ve agreed with Hearst,” Time Warner spokesman Andrew Russell said in a telephone interview. “This year, we think they’re out of line for the same programming they deliver for free over the air and we think it’s unfair.”

- - - - - - - -