By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on Facebook & X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Covered DIRECTV for 29 years.

DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream and U-verse tonight lost 64 Tegna-owned network affiliates in 51 markets when the two sides could not reach a new carriage agreement. The Tegna stations include 21 NBC affiliates, 16 CBS stations, 13 ABC affiliates, and 5 Fox stations, which means many DIRECTV viewers could miss NFL and college football broadcasts this weekend.

Also See: When Will the DIRECTV-Tegna Blackout End?

The TV provider tonight issued the following statement: “TEGNA, one of the nation’s largest local broadcast station groups has yet again denied DIRECTV permission to offer its 66 stations in 52 metro regions to DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM and U-verse customers. This comes after months of negotiations and TEGNA rejecting an offer from DIRECTV to extend through the rest of the college and NFL football seasons to not disrupt viewers while the two sides finalize a renewal.”

Tegna said this tonight: “Despite months of effort, DIRECTV has refused to reach a fair, market-based agreement with Tegna. As a result, DIRECTV and AT&T customers will lose access to NFL and college football conference championship games as well as some of the most popular national network programming and top-rated local news. We urge DIRECTV to continue to negotiate with us until a deal is reached that restores our stations to their customers.”

The Tegna stations are in such large markets as Washington, D.C., San Diego, Denver, Phoenix, Tampa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, St. Louis as well as mid-size areas such as Austin, Texas, San Angelo, Texas, Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, among others. To see a complete list of the Tegna stations, click here. 

Tegna last Saturday posted viewer alerts at station web sites and in on-screen messages that said the signals could be removed tonight if there was not a new carriage pact. The old carriage agreement expired tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

DIRECTV and Tegna also had a carriage dispute in 2020 that led to a 19-day channel blackout before the two sides finally reached a new deal. The disagreement was also over how much DIRECTV should pay to carry Tegna’s signals.

In DIRECTV’s statement, the TV provider said it offered Tegna a plan that would allow subscribers to decide whether to get a specific station.

“In addition to its offer to extend, DIRECTV has separately proposed that TEGNA set the market price for its stations and then allow consumers to decide – very similar to Paramount+ or Peacock – whether to subscribe to and pay for that station. This proposed construct is more favorable to TEGNA than how their stations are sold through Paramount+ and Peacock as their stations would be available for purchase by all DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM and U-verse customers instead of only available on top of a base package,” DIRECTV said.

The satcaster continued: “This first-of-its-kind a la carte model would allow broadcasters to fully control the pricing for their stations based on quality and demand, facilitate a direct relationship between the stations and viewers, and most importantly return greater choice, control and value to consumers by allowing them to customize their packages and pricing.”

The TV Answer Man will monitor this dispute and offer updates when warranted.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.