Millions Of Charter Cable Customers Lose Univision Channels

NEW YORK (AP) - Spanish-language broadcast network Univision and the company's cable channels have gone dark for millions of Charter customers because of a payment dispute.

A Univision spokesman said Wednesday that customers in 37 markets, including New York and Los Angeles, home to large Hispanic communities, have lost access to Univision, the most popular Spanish-language network.

Univision also owns cable channels including Galavision and sports-focused Univision Deportes.

Charter Communications, the country's No. 2 cable provider, has roughly 17 million cable customers.

Cable companies are trying to stem rising costs for the channels they beam out, which trickle down to customer bills. Fights with the owners of the networks can lead to channels being cut off, sometimes for months at a time.