The relationship between pay-TV distributors and local channels can get complicated, and sometimes messy. DIRECTV and Nexstar, the largest television station owner in the United States, are certainly relearning that lesson now. DIRECTV has filed a lawsuit against Nexstar in U.S. District Court, claiming the company is colluding with smaller station owners to manipulate retransmission fees.

DIRECTV alleges that Nexstar has conspired with Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, two smaller independent station owners. The claim is that these three station owners are violating federal law that prohibits station owners from having two or more stations in a designated market if their service areas overlap.

The satellite TV company provided a list of ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates across the country that it claims have been affected by this scheme. All of these affiliates are blacked out to DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and U-Verse customers in these markets, as the company has refused to pay the higher retransmission fees it alleges Nexstar, White Knight, and Mission colluded to demand.

Among several other examples, the suit alleges that the trio of station owners routinely share confidential rates and other financial information through a single agent who can’t keep the details of one contract straight from another, closely align their respective blackout dates, and duplicate their public responses to the media to manipulate viewers and betray the public trust once they unilaterally pull their station signals.

A Nexstar spokesperson said this week that the three companies “are in full compliance with FCC rules, and each station group independently negotiates its own retransmission consent agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco partners.”

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The service was previously called DIRECTV STREAM, preceded by AT&T TV.

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Genre Packs are targeted, contract-free plans introduced in 2025. They include MySports ($69.99/mo), MyEntertainment ($34.99/mo), MyNews ($39.99/mo), and MiEspañol ($34.99/mo), often bundling apps like Max, Disney+, or Hulu.

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Every DIRECTV plan includes Unlimited Cloud DVR storage, allowing you to record and save shows for up to 9 months.

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An RSN fee of up to $15.99/month applies to the Choice package and above, as these plans include local sports coverage. This fee is determined by your zip code and the number of Regional Sports Networks available in your area.

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This is not the only dispute over fees that DIRECTV is currently mired in. The satellite provider also finds itself in a carriage dispute with right-wing news outlet Newsmax, and has dropped its linear channel NewsmaxTV over a refusal to pay what it considers an exorbitant carriage fee.

More carriage disputes of this nature are cropping up all over the pay-TV ecosystem. fuboTV recently dropped local CBS in more than 150 markets in the U.S., though a new deal between the network and the live TV streaming service is making its way to affiliates for approval now.

No such deal has been struck between Hulu and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, however. Sinclair owns a set of 34 ABC affiliates that were recently removed from Hulu + Live TV in a similar quarrel, and there is currently no timetable for their return.

As cord-cutting accelerates across the United States, and the world, there will be more of these types of disputes and allegations between media companies. Each is trying to bring in as much profit as it can before pay TV is gone forever, and they don’t mind stepping on each others’ toes if it means the possibility of scraping up a million dollars more here or there.

What Local Channels Are Involved in DIRECTV’s Lawsuit?