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

TV Answer Man, we don’t have our CBS station here in the DC area on DIRECTV because of the carriage fight you wrote about. My question is can I watch the CBS NFL games on my YouTube Sunday Ticket subscription because we don’t have access to the CBS station? I know they are normally blacked out on the Ticket but we can’t watch it! — Jerry, Arlington, Virginia.

Jerry, as you note, DIRECTV on Thursday night lost 64 Tegna-owned local channels due to a fight over carriage fees. The blacked-out channels 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.

Can DIRECTV/Tegna Viewers Watch Blacked Out Games on the Sunday Ticket?

But what if you have the NFL Sunday Ticket via YouTube Primetime Channels? Can you watch the games on CBS and Fox on the Ticket if your CBS or Fox station is blacked out because of DIRECTV’s fight with Tegna?

Answer: No. YouTube is required to black out any game on the Ticket if it’s airing on one of your local channels, even if you can’t access that channel on your TV provider. This rule is exactly the same as it was when DIRECTV had the exclusive rights to the Sunday Ticket.

However, there are some ways to watch the games (both NFL and college) if your local channel is blacked out due to the DIRECTV-Tegna fee fight. You can learn more about that in our article here. 

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

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

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.