AP-- Sinclair Broadcast Group and two cable TV companies have announced an agreement to extend a midnight deadline for a new contract until Jan. 14, averting an interruption of some programming to cable customers that carry Sinclair stations.

Sinclair and the two companies -- Time Warner and Bright House Networks -- issued news releases late Friday saying contract talks would continue.

The parties have been bogged down in negotiations over how much the cable companies should pay to carry Sinclair TV stations in markets around the country. Local Sinclair stations -- including affiliates of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox -- would have been dropped from channel lineups for roughly 4 million Time Warner customers and an unknown number of Bright House customers after midnight Friday without the extension.

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