TV Stations at Deadline on Cable Choice : Television: Many broadcasters have yet to decide whether to join. Fees are a sticking point.

Hundreds of television stations around the country--including many in Los Angeles--still appeared to have their futures hanging in the balance as time ran out for them to decide whether to have their signals carried by local cable systems.

Broadcasters faced a Thursday deadline for choosing. Under the new federal cable law, which took effect earlier this year, they can either demand that their signals be carried by cable operators without getting paid for it or negotiate a retransmission fee from the cable operators.

If broadcasters elect the first option, the law guarantees them carriage on the local cable system. If they want to get paid and are unable to reach an agreement, the cable operator has the right to drop the broadcast station from its channel lineup.

The issue, while confusing to the public, could have a big impact on what cable TV subscribers can watch.

In recent months, broadcasters and cable operators have been engaged in a tense game of chicken over the issue. But in one deal trumpeted by the cable industry as a possible breakthrough, Denver-based cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. said Thursday that it has negotiated 14 separate agreements with local broadcasters. Among the stations covered is KCOP-TV in Los Angeles.

With one exception, the other major Los Angeles stations have not yet indicated which option they will select. Fox’s KTVV-TV is covered under a previous TCI agreement that calls for the cable company to help launch and finance a Fox-owned cable TV channel.

TCI said none of the deals involved payments to broadcasters, although in five cases TCI will provide channel space on its cable TV systems so that local broadcasters can start second channels in their markets.

Four of those five TV stations are owned by Times Mirror Co., publisher of the Los Angeles Times, which has agreed to sell them. Times Mirror also owns cable TV systems with about 1.2 million subscribers in all.

However, in a possible preview of what many broadcasters may do, a TCI spokesman said that more than half the TV stations in its service areas have agreed not to charge TCI fees to retransmit their programming.

The cable industry is nearly unanimous in refusing to pay for carriage of local broadcast signals, arguing that it will not pay for something that non-subscribers get for free. Cable companies such as TCI have said all along that they would be willing to consider non-cash arrangements in retransmission deals, but broadcasters such as CBS, which owns several local stations, have insisted they must get cash compensation from the cable operators.

Their stance was reiterated this week by Edward Fritts, president of the National Assn. of Broadcasters trade group. He said that although he expects a “substantial number” of broadcasters will opt for retransmission consent, his industry “will not be bullied” by cable systems that claim they won’t negotiate retransmission fees.

Broadcasters say they should be compensated because their viewing audiences are far larger than those of cable networks such as MTV, CNN and Home Box Office, networks for which cable operators now pay cash.

Times staff writer Jube Shiver in Washington contributed to this story.