On the cusp of the new year, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks reached an extension with Sinclair Broadcasting to keep the latter's programming on the air until Jan. 14 or until a new retransmission deal is in place.

The carriage agreement between Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Sinclair was set to expire at midnight on Dec. 31. Sinclair had threatened to pull its programming, which includes local affiliates for NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox, from the cable operators' lineups if a new deal wasn't reached by the deadline.

The agreement covers programming from 33 of Sinclair's TV stations, while Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are the second-largest and sixth-largest, respectively, cable operators in the nation.

"We're pleased that we've reached an extension with Sinclair Broadcasting that will allow our customers to continue to receive all Sinclair Broadcasting stations uninterrupted through Jan. 14 and allow us to continue negotiating to reach a long-term agreement," Time Warner Cable said in its statement.

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks successfully negotiated a new agreement with Disney last year that included new provisions for TV Everywhere and 3-D content.