DIRECTV Could Lose 13 Cox Local Stations Next Week; Why Have There Been So Many Channel Blackouts Lately?
Cox-owned channels could disappear for DIRECTV customers starting Feb. 2 unless the two sides reach a new retransmission deal.
It seems DIRECTV is serious about keeping its customers from having to worry about price increases in the near future. The company is digging in for another battle over retransmission fees, this time with Cox Media Group (CMG), which currently operates 13 TV stations in nine markets across the United States. When retrans contracts expire, channel owners invariably demand higher fees from distributors, which almost always have to be passed on to the consumers. DIRECTV executives have gone on record about wanting to avoid having to raise prices for their subscribers.
- DIRECTV’s carriage agreement with Cox Media Group expires on Feb. 2.
- Cox says DIRECTV is trying to “harm local journalism” with the lack of a new deal.
- DIRECTV argues that rate increases on otherwise free content hurts customers.
Which Areas Could Be Affected by New Retransmission Dispute?
DIRECTV and Cox have until 12 midnight E.T. on Feb. 2 to reach a new deal for the retransmission of Cox-owned stations on DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and AT&T U-Verse. If they do not, customers in markets like Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle will likely find that they can no longer access select local channels with their DIRECTV service. Stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, MyNetworkTV, and Telemundo could be affected.
“CMG is proud of our commitment to investing in best-in-class local news and investigative journalism,” Cox Media Group EVP Marian Pittman said. “We’re dismayed that DIRECTV is trying to force a deal that would harm local journalism and broadcast stations. This hurts consumers who rely on our high-quality local news, weather, and entertainment programming.”
Cox has grown so frustrated with the tenor of negotiations that it has issued a press release, calling DIRECTV “anti-competitive” and “anti-consumer” as it tried to lay the blame for the failure to reach a new deal exclusively at the satellite provider’s feet.
“Cox Media Group (CMG) today called on DIRECTV to not block its customers’ access to breaking local news and weather, emergency information, live major sports and other entertainment programming provided by CMG’s local TV stations,” the company said in a statement. “DIRECTV has yet to close a new carriage agreement with CMG and appears intent on pulling all of CMG’s local TV stations from its lineup, starting as early as February 2.”
While the tenor of Cox’s point might remain, factually, it is the station owner’s prerogative to keep or remove a channel from a service. Even if the two sides do not agree on a new contract, Cox has the exclusive authority to allow the channels to remain on DIRECTV’s platforms; the distributor cannot continue including the channels unilaterally. While they are becoming less frequent, sides locked in carriage and retransmission disputes have agreed to many extensions throughout the years.
A similar retrans dispute between Cox and DIRECTV competitor DISH led to the station owner’s channels leaving the satellite service in November 2022. To date, those channels have not been restored.
As DIRECTV did during its recent dispute with TEGNA, the focus is on keeping the cost of its service down for subscribers, as the distributor knows that every price increase leads to customer defections. With TEGNA, the company proposed making the local channels a la carte so that consumers could decide whether or not they wanted to pay for them or not. With Cox, DIRECTV is making the case that any rate hike is “unwarranted” since the majority of the content is already available for free via an antenna or other streaming and online sources.
“We are working with Cox Media Group to reach a new agreement that will align the value and quality customers receive with the price they pay,” a DIRECTV spokesperson told The Streamable. “Our request to Cox Media Group is simple, don’t force your viewers who are our customers, to pay an unwarranted rate increase for ‘free’ news, sports, and entertainment that is widely available on local station websites, through an over-the-air digital antenna and direct-to-consumer streaming platforms.”
What Cox-owned stations could be blacked out on DIRECTV starting Feb. 2?
| City of Market | Station | Channel | Network affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville, Florida | WFOX-TV | 30 | Fox, Telemundo |
| WJAX-TV | 47 | CBS | |
| Orlando–Daytona Beach, Florida | WFTV | 9 | ABC |
| WRDQ | 27 | Independent | |
| Atlanta, Georgia | WSB-TV | 2 | ABC |
| Boston, Massachusetts | WFXT | 25 | Fox |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | WSOC-TV | 9 | ABC, Telemundo |
| WAXN-TV | 64 | Independent | |
| Dayton, Ohio | WHIO-TV | 7 | CBS |
| Eugene, Oregon | KLSR-TV | 34 | Fox |
| KEVU-CD | 23 | MyNetworkTV | |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | WPXI | 11 | NBC |
| Seattle–Tacoma, Washington | KIRO-TV | 7 | CBS, Telemundo |
Will DIRECTV and Cox Reach a New Deal in Time?
If negotiations have soured to the point that Cox has put out a press release with such strident language, a programming disruption seems likely. There is still time for DIRECTV and Cox to reach a new deal, but The Streamable has seen too many of these retransmission disputes lately to hold out much hope that a resolution will be reached by the Feb. 2 deadline.
DIRECTV has been at the center of a good many of them. Just weeks ago, it agreed to a new retransmission deal with TEGNA encompassing more than 60 TV stations around the country, after a dispute which blacked the channels out on DIRECTV for nearly two months. Nexstar-owned stations were dark for DIRECTV customers from July through September before the two sides reached a new deal.
One of the reasons that DIRECTV seems so stubborn about refusing to pay more to carry local channels is that it knows that those carriage rate increases will have to be passed along to the consumer. Its reasons for wanting to avoid this are not just in the name of customer service, however; DIRECTV knows full well that every price increase leads to more cord-cutting, which leaves fewer customers to pay into the pot the next time a channel owner wants an increase in fees.
This is especially problematic when it comes to what traditionally has been considered free, broadcast television. According to research firm Kagan, the average cost of broadcast stations that are a part of a pay-TV package was $5.37 per month in 2015. However, that total has increased 270% in nine years to its current total of $19.85 monthly. Kagan projects that the average broadcast fee will increase roughly another 50% to $29.95 per month — or almost $360 annually — by 2027.
In a consumer environment that is getting more and more cost-conscious when it comes to entertainment options, it is unsurprising that this would be a concern for DIRECTV. Consumers are cutting back on the number of streaming services that they subscribe to and increasingly opting for free programming options. If live TV streaming services and other traditional content distributors like cable and satellite companies continually have to increase their rates to pay for broadcast channels, it will only accelerate viewers moving away from traditional pay TV.
This potential retransmission dispute won’t be as disruptive as DIRECTV’s last one, if only because fewer stations are involved, but the trend of rising carriage and retransmission fees will almost certainly have a devastating effect on distributors and consumers if a disruptive, industry-wide consensus is not found. For now, DIRECTV customers in markets with a Cox-owned station beware, you could be about to lose one of your local channels from your channel guide.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”