DIRECTV Loses 5 Local Stations In Carriage Fight With Morgan Murphy

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee!

DIRECTV this morning lost carriage of three CBS and two ABC network affiliates due to a fee fight with their owner, Morgan Murphy Media. The blackout affects both DIRECTV streaming and satellite customers as well as U-verse subscribers.

The stations lost are: KXLY-ABC (Spokane, WA); WISC-CBS/MNT (Madison, WI); APP-ABC (Yakima-Pasco-Richland, WA); WKBT-CBS (La Crosse-Eau Claire, WI); KOAM-CBS (Joplin-Pittsburg, KS).

The stations this morning issued a statement confirming that DIRECTV was no longer carrying them. The old carriage pact between the companies expired at midnight.

“The (station) carriage agreement with DIRECTV/U-Verse expired at (midnight)…While we wished to avoid a disruption in your DIRECTV/U-Verse service, without an agreement or extension, DIRECTV/U-Verse chose to remove our programming from its lineup. We didn’t want to leave you in the dark. Call DIRECTV/U-Verse now and tell them you want to put WISC-TV back on their lineup at 1-866-852-1310.”

A DIRECTV spokesman issued a statement to The TV Answer Man saying that Morgan Murphy is seeking “to try to force (the TV provider) to pay lots more” for its signals.

“Morgan Murphy has temporarily blocked our customers’ access to its local stations to try to force them to pay lots more for much of the same programming for the next few years. Morgan Murphy has tried this many times before, with our customers and others, and a little patience today can help us to keep costs down in the future. We want our customers to receive the best value for their money and appreciate their understanding as we work with Morgan Murphy to reconnect them as soon as possible.”

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