One of the leading cable service providers in the country, DirecTV, has failed to sign a retransmission agreement with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting Group. As a result, DirecTV subscribers in about seven states in the United States will not be able to access 18 News-Press & Gazette TV stations.
However, reports from several sources indicate that negations between DirecTV and the local stations are still going on. This means that the contents offered by these channels might be available to DirecTV subscribers in a few weeks, if things go well.
The News-Press stations are actually the affiliates of all four popular broadband networks, and are located in markets such as Colorado Springs, Palm Springs, Idaho Falls, and Bend City. In a recent statement addressing their viewers, News-Press & Gazette Company said, “We’re sorry you’re caught in the middle.” They also added that they have no idea when the negations will end.
DirecTV had also engaged in a retransmission consent dispute with Tribune Media stations earlier this year. The dispute between the two parties resulted in the blackout of Tribune Media stations in about 26 markets. However, these stations returned to DirecTV when both the parties agreed to and signed a new contract.
DirecTV’s parent company, AT&T recently stated that the main culprit behind their disputes with local stations is the pricing. They also noted that News-Press is arguing for a “significant increase in fees” in order to continue the carriage of the stations.
Clarifying their part, AT&T said that, “News-Press & Gazette has suspended its stations from our customers and threatened others before so we appreciate our DirecTV customers’ patience as we work to resolve this matter quickly and reasonably.”
On a similar note, Altice USA and Cox Communications are also on the verge of a possible blackout of several stations. Cox subscribers will not be able to access about seven Tegna stations, if the provider fails to sign a retrains deal with the local station. The blackout will affect Cox subscribers in Norfolk, New Orleans, and Washington D.C.
Disputes between cable service providers and location stations have become a lot common these days and it has resulted in the blackout of a number of channels. However, several of these disputes were solved in a matter of few weeks. DirecTV subscribers would have to wait and see how their negations with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting go this time.
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