DIRECTV STREAM Offers $25 Gift Cards to Some Customers Affected by TEGNA Outage
DIRECTV STREAM is trying to make good with customers whose local channels have been blacked out in the TEGNA dispute.
The blackout is on. DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM and AT&T U-Verse customers were disappointed to see the company fail to come to terms with TEGNA, a broadcaster that owns 66 stations across 52 markets in the United States on Thursday evening.
- DIRECTV has sent emails to some affected customers offering $25 gift cards to make up for channel outages.
- Gift cards can be used to purchase an over-the-air antenna, or a subscription to a streaming service that offers a stream of the affected local channel.
- Affected users who have not gotten this email should contact DIRECTV to see if they can get the offer.
How Will Gift Cards Help DIRECTV STREAM Users?
The failure of TEGNA and DIRECTV to reach a new retransmission agreement means that all TEGNA-owned stations are blacked out for DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and AT&T U-Verse viewers in major markets like Dallas, Denver, and Phoenix. Around 70% of the affected channels are affiliates of CBS and NBC, with some ABC and Fox stations as well.
That puts NFL broadcasts, the return of new scripted TV episodes, and more at risk for users of DIRECTV services. To help mitigate the risk of missing out on key programming moments, DIRECTV STREAM has begun emailing some of its users to offer them a $25 Visa gift card if their service has been interrupted.
If you’re a DIRECTV STREAM customer whose local channel has been blacked out, but you have not received the email from the company, contact customer service and see if the offer will make its way to you eventually! A $25 gift card will help most affected DIRECTV users watch local channels, and good things come to those who ask.
Which Streaming Services Carry Local Channels?
That $25 gift card can be used to great effect if your TEGNA-owned station is an NBC or CBS affiliate. That’s because both channels are available on the top tier of their sibling streaming services Peacock and Paramount+.
Peacock Premium Plus allows users in every market to stream their local NBC affiliate live. That will bring you live news and all sports available on NBC this weekend, at a price point of $11.99 per month. Your $25 gift card will cover two months of Peacock Premium Plus, or four months if you downgrade to ad-supported Peacock Premium. You won’t get the NBC livestream with this plan, but you can still stream “Sunday Night Football” and the entire Peacock on-demand library with limited ads.
Paramount+ with Showtime also costs $11.99 per month and allows customers to stream their local CBS station 24 hours per day. If you only use CBS to watch the NFL, you can opt for the ad-supported Paramount+ Essential tier at $5.99 per month and watch those games every remaining weekend of the regular season.
Can You Use an Antenna to Watch ABC, Fox, and The CW?
If your TEGNA-owned station is not affiliated with NBC or CBS, you can use your $25 gift card from DIRECTV STREAM to purchase an over-the-air (OTA) antenna and watch ABC, Fox, The CW and all your other local channels with no subscription fees. Check out the under-$25 options for TV antennas available below!
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.”