DIRECTV, TEGNA Heading for Blackout of 64 Stations Nationwide; DIRECTV Claims TEGNA Took Private Negotiations Public
Local affiliates in 51 markets across the United States are threatened by the potential dispute.
DIRECTV’s negotiating teams have been under fire all year long. The satellite provider — which also owns the live TV streaming service DIRECTV STREAM — is currently trying to close a new retransmission deal with TEGNA, one of the largest independent TV station owners in the country.
- TEGNA-owned channels may disappear for DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and AT&T U-Verse customers as of 8 p.m. ET on Nov. 30.
- TEGNA owns 64 stations in 51 markets across the United States.
- DIRECTV has already had one major retransmission dispute with Nexstar this year and has had schisms with TEGNA in the past.
Are TEGNA Stations About to Disappear from DIRECTV?
Those negotiations are not going well, according to a statement many TEGNA station watchers saw stream across their televisions on Sunday night. It warned viewers that those watching on DIRECTV could lose access to their TEGNA-owned stations as of 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 30.
“We are negotiating with DIRECTV, but thus far, they have refused to reach a fair, market-based agreement to keep our station on DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse,” said a statement on KeepMyLocalTV.com, the site that TEGNA set up for viewers to air their disapproval with DIRECTV.
Unless a deal is reached before the appointed time on Nov. 30, 64 Tegna-owned stations in 51 markets from coast to coast will go dark for DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM and AT&T U-Verse customers. TEGNA stations reach approximately 39% of households across the nation, so this is yet another high-stakes maneuver from DIRECTV to avoid paying retransmission fees that it deems too high and potentially keep from having to pass those costs on to customers.
“TEGNA has once again made a private negotiation public in the hopes of creating unnecessary and premature concern among some of our customers to extract higher rates for local broadcast stations,” A DIRECTV spokesperson told The Streamable. “Unfortunately, that’s become the industry norm as the costs for free local stations have soared more than 20 percent year upon year upon year despite declining popularity and less-compelling content. We will continue to meet our customers’ demands for greater choice and value and do our utmost to shield them from unwarranted price hikes as we work with TEGNA to renew its stations without any interruption.”
What Can Past DIRECTV Retransmission Disputes Tell Us About TEGNA Issues?
This is not the first time DIRECTV and TEGNA have had disagreements about retransmission fees. Almost exactly three years ago, DIRECTV customers lost TEGNA-owned stations after a dispute that cropped up in December 2020. It ended in less than three weeks, but during a critical time of year, especially for NFL fans hoping to see their team make a potential run at the playoffs during the pandemic 2020 season and with holiday programming dominating the airwaves.
DIRECTV had a similar retransmission dispute with Nexstar earlier this year that lasted far longer. Over 200 Nexstar stations were blacked out for DIRECTV customers starting in early July, and the dispute continued through September. Financial details were not disclosed, but it’s highly likely Nexstar got a significant increase in its retrans fees from DIRECTV, considering that the satellite provider increased prices for DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM in early November as the company promised it would have to if it was forced to meet Nexstar’s demands.
A similar outcome is likely in the TEGNA case. An extended outage would rob users of one of the most important months in the pro football season, which is one of the top ratings generators on television every year, so there is incentive for DIRECTV to cut a deal. It will probably lead to another price increase for DIRECTV users, though the company may wait a few months to try and space its price hikes out a bit more.
Perhaps the two sides can skip a step, and come to a deal before the 8 p.m. deadline on Nov. 30 before a service disruption impacts users. If not, DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and AT&T U-Verse customers will see 64 TEGNA-owned stations in 51 markets disappear from their channel lineup.
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.”