By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Reported on DIRECTV for 30 years.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has sent a letter to the FCC, and the heads of AT&T and Tegna, which urge them to resolve the six-week carriage dispute between DIRECTV and the broadcaster before this weekend’s first round of the NFL playoffs.
Update: DIRECTV & Tegna Sign New Deal
DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream and U-verse on November 30 lost 64 Tegna-owned local stations in 51 markets when the two sides could not reach a new agreement for carriage fees.
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Brown’s home state team, the Cleveland Browns, are set to play the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be broadcast by NBC which means that DIRECTV subscribers in the Cleveland market will be unable to watch the game since the Tegna-0wned NBC affiliate there (WKYC-TV) is blacked out in their lineup. (DIRECTV subscribers could watch the game via an antenna or a subscription to the NBC-owned Peacock streaming service or NFL Plus.).
“During this season and at this time, it is unacceptable that Browns fans would be unable to watch their team play in the playoffs – their first playoff game in three years – due to a business dispute,” Brown says in the letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Tegna CEO David Lougee. (AT&T owns 70 percent of DIRECTV.) “The parties must engage in good-faith negotiations and prioritize protecting Ohioans from continued blackouts – especially with the Browns in the playoffs. I also request that the Commission continue to monitor this situation closely and facilitate the resolution of the ongoing dispute promptly and impartially. We must ensure accountability for any practices that disadvantage consumers.”
There has been no comment from the company heads or the FCC chief, but history suggests that politicians often get involved in a TV blackout fight shortly before they are settled. (For example, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper intervened in the Charter-Disney dispute last year three days before it was resolved. And there are numerous other examples.)
It’s as if the pols learn privately that the companies are getting close to an agreement, and they want to take credit by publicly demanding a resolution shortly before it’s actually announced.
As someone who once covered Capitol Hill, I can assure you there are few coincidences in politics.
The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation and report back here if anything significant changes.
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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.
