DirecTV and Tegna Resolve Dispute, Secure Carriage Deal for Local NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox Stations

DirecTV and Tegna have successfully resolved their six-week-long dispute, announcing a new multi-year distribution agreement. The standoff, which involved negotiations over the fees DirecTV would pay to carry Tegna’s 64 TV stations, left fans of football, late-night TV, and local news in various U.S. cities without access to their favorite programs. The agreement means that all programming from Tegna’s stations will now be immediately restored to customers of DirecTV satellite service, DirecTV Stream streaming service, and U-verse service delivered via fiber-optic connections.

The joint press release issued by DirecTV and Tegna expressed appreciation for the patience of their subscribers and viewers during the impasse. Tegna stations are located in 51 markets and reach approximately 39% of all TV homes nationwide, including many NBC and CBS stations and several Fox stations broadcasting NFL playoffs. The blackout reportedly affected as many as 5 million DirecTV customers.

Events missed during the dispute included several weeks of college and NFL football games, including the highly popular “Sunday Night Football” on NBC, as well as shows like “The Late Night Show With Stephen Colbert” on CBS.

The resolution came after Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sent a letter to both companies, urging them to end the blackouts so Cleveland Browns fans could watch their team’s playoff game. Brown emphasized the unacceptability of fans missing their team’s first playoff game in three years due to a business dispute. Although it’s unclear how much impact Brown’s plea had, the dispute was settled about two hours before the playoff game’s kickoff.

Tegna’s stations are spread across various cities, including Atlanta, Buffalo, Charlotte, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

The involvement of a high-profile politician in urging the end of the blackout was seen as a positive sign by industry observers. Phil Swann, the publisher of TVAnswerman.com, noted on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter) that such statements are typically made when a settlement is imminent.

Despite the growing popularity of streaming services, traditional pay TV providers like DirecTV still serve tens of millions of subscribing households. Disputes over the value of stations’ broadcasts to pay TV services have become more frequent as the industry landscape evolves. DirecTV and Tegna faced a similar stalemate in 2020, and DirecTV resolved a dispute with Nexstar stations in September 2023. Tegna also had a dispute with Dish Network in 2022.