By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

TV Answer Man, Thursday Night Football starts tomorrow night (September 7). But we don’t have our NBC station here where we live because of the fight with DIRECTV and their owner. Is there any other way we can watch the game tomorrow night without having to get YouTube TV? — Jay, Tampa. 
Jay, DIRECTV on July 2 lost 159 Nexstar-owned local stations in a fee fight between the companies. (The blackout also affects DIRECTV Stream and U-verse.) Both sides have been relatively quiet in the last week, which could be a good sign. But as of this writing, there’s no indication we will see a settlement before tomorrow night’s NFL regular season opener on NBC with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football. But if you’re missing your NBC affiliate because of the carriage dispute – and there are about 30 NBC affiliates affected by the Nexstar/DIRECTV blackout — you do have options.

1. Peacock
The NBC-owned streaming service will carry the game with no blackouts. Plans start at $5.99 a month. Unfortunately, there’s no free trial, but $5.99 is a small price to pay if you’re a football fan, right?
2. TV Antenna
If you can pick up your local NBC affiliate with an antenna, you can watch the game for free. Not everyone can, of course. It depends upon your location and other factors such as whether you live near mountains, tall buildings and other possible obstacles. But it’s worth a try if you already have an antenna.

Jay, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman