(2 January 2010 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Following months of negotiations that failed to produce a deal ahead of a midnight deadline, Time Warner Cable and Fox came to an agreement after an 11th-hour contract extension.

The deal, to keep carrying Fox Networks programming, has helped avoid a blackout of TV shows like The Simpsons and college and NFL football games in 13 million US homes.

Though Time Warner Cable did not reveal what it had offered, privately its executives had pointed to deals with smaller broadcasters for around 20-25 cents a subscriber.

The dispute had focused on how much Time Warner Cable should pay for the right to deliver the Fox network to its cable subscribers in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.

News Corp, controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, had been targeting around $1 a month per subscriber, a sum Time Warner Cable had called 'unreasonable'.

In a short joint statement News Corp deputy chairman Chase Carey described the new agreement as 'fair' and said it 'recognizes the value of our programming'.

The cable operator was also negotiating on behalf of privately held cable company Bright House Networks, which is covered by the deal. Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt described the new contract as a "reasonable deal".

Both companies had waged aggressive marketing campaigns seeking support from the affected subscribers, but neither side was well-positioned for a long standoff.