By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Reported on DIRECTV for 29 years.
TV Answer Man, didn’t DIRECTV and Tegna have a blackout fight a few years ago? How long did that one last and could it tell us something about how long this one will last? — Natalie, Arlington, Virginia.
Natalie, DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream and U-verse have been without 64 Tegna-owned local stations since November 30 due to a fee dispute between the two companies. There is no indication that a settlement is near although many DIRECTV subscribers will lose another weekend of NFL and college football this weekend if an agreement is not signed in the next few hours.
With the impasse looking like it will continue for awhile, it might be instructive to look at what the companies did in 2020 when they had a similar dispute over how much DIRECTV should pay to carry Tegna’s signals.
The 2020 fee fight also occurred in December (December 1 was the start) and it lasted 19 days before they signed a new agreement. The current dispute started on November 30 and it’s now 24 days old. That might suggest we could soon see a settlement of the current dispute since history often repeats itself in these scraps.
But the economics of pay TV have changed dramatically in the last three years. Both pay TV providers and broadcasters are more inclined to play hardball in carriage negotiations to squeeze as much cash out of the other as possible with pay TV subscriptions on the decline. This is why I predicted on December 1 that the blackout would likely last into the NFL playoff season in January and perhaps all the way up to the February 11 Super Bowl. I see nothing to change that prediction now.
By the way, 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.
Natalie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
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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.
