Comcast’s Xfinity TV Loses 40 Local Stations In Fee Fight

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

Comcast’s Xfinity TV service last night lost 40 local stations due to a carriage dispute with their owner, E.W. Scripps.

The blackout includes 19 ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX stations plus 21 independent stations. The affected markets include Denver, Houston, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Miami, among other large and mid-sized cities. To see a complete list of the local stations blacked out now on Xfinity TV, click here.

In a statement on its web site, Comcast says Scripps rejected “a number of reasonable offers” before the stations went dark yesterday at 5:59 p.m. ET.

“Comcast pays programmers to bring customers the entertainment, information, and sports they want,” the cable TV operator states. “Comcast works to negotiate fair terms in order to ensure the greatest value for customers, given all the ways content can be accessed today. A number of reasonable offers have been made that E. W. Scripps hasn’t accepted. Comcast continues to work towards making this programming available again with fair pricing and terms for our customers.”

The stations, which have posted viewer alerts at their web site, says its parent company “has worked diligently to reach an agreement with Comcast that is fair for both sides and viewers.”

The dispute is already causing viewer disruption with many sports fans in South Florida complaining that last night’s broadcast of a Florida Panthers-Ottawa Senators hockey game was blacked out in the middle of the game.

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