Starz tells Altice to stop 'false' statements in carriage fight

Starz, which is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, said in a statement that Altice was advising its customers that Starz did not engage in extension discussions with Altice and pulled its signal from the cable company on Jan. 1.

"This is patently false," Starz said it wrote in a cease-and-desist letter to Altice. Starz said Altice "unilaterally pulled down the Starz signal," without providing any notice, in the midst of active negotiations.

Altice spokeswoman Lisa Anselmo said the contents of the Starz letter "are completely false and without merit."

The pay TV distributor announced on Monday it would no longer carry Starz' channels to its 3.4 million Optimum and SuddenLink TV customers, after the two failed to reach an agreement on pricing.

Altice has advised customers to sign up for the premium cable network’s $8.99 online video service if they want to continue watching its programming.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)