Time Warner Cable Inc. and Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. stated on Saturday that they came to an agreement on programming fees that will avert the sort of channel blackouts for about four million cable subscribers that gave rise to controversy in the TV business.

Time Warner Cable made a statement that it has an agreement in principle to carry on running as many as twenty eight local Sinclair stations, and the firms will work to square up the deal over the next week. Sinclair stated that the firms have agreed on material grounds for a new carriage contract, and the prevailing contract will be extended up to Feb. 21 while they sort out the details.

The treaty comes as both the firms were facing a midnight deadline in a negotiation that had become unforgiving after the parties failed to find common ground before their original contract deadline at the end of 2010.

The negotiations were extended twice and Sinclair had issued warnings to its viewers asking them to find alternative ways to watch its stations while Time Warner Cable stated that it would bring in signals from nearby stations owned by other firms for replacing Sinclair's stations for its subscribers.

Such situations, including the threat of programming disruptions for consumers, has become widespread in the TV industry as broadcasters dispute with pay-TV distributors for more shares of their subscription business as their traditional ad-supported business form struggles.

Representatives from both the firms did not make any comment on details of their treaty. A number of important broadcasters have recently talked with Time Warner Cable and other distributors for considerable increases in subscription fees.

The negotiation affected consumers in markets like Ohio, Columbus, Maine, Portland and Milwaukee.

In another development, Sinclair has also reached an agreement in principle with Bright House Networks, in similar programming talks. Bright House Networks is a cable provider based in Syracuse, N. Y. that is part-owned by Time Warner Cable.

Under the deal one million cable subscribers, staying mostly in Florida will be affected.