Nexstar-owned stations have gone dark on DirecTV in fresh carriage dispute

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...te-1235528176/

Nexstar-owned ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS and CW stations, as well as NewsNation, have gone dark for subs of the satellite TV company.

BY ALEX WEPRIN

JULY 2, 2023 5:58PM

More than 10 million DirecTV subscribers have lost local TV stations owned by Nexstar, in the latest high-profile carriage dispute to permeate the pay-TV business.

The latest battle is between DirecTV, the satellite TV giant, and Nexstar, the local TV giant that owns some 159 TV stations across the country. Nexstar said Sunday that its channels went dark on DirecTV and its streaming multichannel product DirecTV Stream after the companies failed to come to terms on a new deal.

The impacted stations include affiliates for all the major broadcast networks, as well as The CW, which Nexstar acquired last year. It also includes NewsNation, the cable news channel operated by Nexstar.

The timing is unfortunate, with Nexstar warning that DirecTV subscribers may miss the MLB All Star Game or Women’s World Cup due to the dispute. Nexstar says that it was asking for the same rates that it has negotiated with other distribution partners.

DirecTV, in a statement of its own, said that Nexstar was demanding price increases, as well as asking that DirecTV carry The CW “and low-rated channels” in its lineup. The company also noted prior carriage disputes that involved Nexstar.

Of course, DirecTV has had high-profile carriage disputes of its own in the last year, including with the conservative cable channel Newsmax and with Fox Corp.

“Nexstar remains hopeful that a resolution can be reached quickly to return to viewers their favorite network programming, live sporting events, in-depth local news and other local content relevant to their communities, as well as critical emergency updates for which DirecTV is charging its subscribers,” the company said.

[TMC]

DirecTV Now Has the Largest Local-Station Blackout in History. Don’t Expect It to Last

Nexstar stations are dark on DirecTV — but with one month until the NFL Preseason, both sides will sling mud before inevitably becoming friends again.

[franciis]

should customers request a refund from direct tv if they dont get nextar stations ? does n star say..ask for a refund ? senior citizens .....dont have lots of $.........income

[Hawkee]

What I believe is that Nexstar is repeating the exact same thing with DirectTV again that happened with Hearst in 2017 and I think the main reason why Nexstar is doing this to Direct TV is because I think Nexstar wants to give DirectTV subscribers the Nexstar channels on a separate tier because they see it as a way to make fast money. And when DirectTV caused everyone to lose their Nexstar owned stations in 2017 a lot of people were surprised at this because FOX along with NBC and NBC and The CW were all local channels and I think that by doing things like this Nexstar owned stations should learn some lessons because by doing this you cannot remove local stations from DirectTV. What I think is gonna happen to the MLB All-Star Game is that they will air it on FX because with sporting events they usually tell watchers that it will be on another channel. But I think DirectTV should give subscribers a discount as an apology for this happening when subscribers call and complain about what's going on. I wouldn't be surprised if Hearst is the next one to do this as well?

[Charles Knox]

"DirecTV, in a statement of its own, said that Nexstar was demanding price increases, as well as asking that DirecTV carry The CW “and low-rated channels” in its lineup. The company also noted prior carriage disputes that involved Nexstar."

Looks like part of their demands is, they want DirecTV to carry both Antenna and Rewind TV.

[Hawkee]

Did DirectTV put all the Nexstar owned channels back on the air yet? I am curious to know? I think that this was all Nexstar's doing because as I mentioned in my previous post in this thread I think Nexstar is a lot like Hearst because when you look at the general picture Nexstar wants to be king of syndicated stations and want to do everything that DirectTV tells them to do. Why I think Nexstar did this was just to get more money from DirectTV. Because when Hearst did the same thing to it's NBC and ABC stations by dropping them it made people so mad and shortly after Hearst returned the ABC and NBC stations to DirectTV ClearChannel did the same thing with the FOX and CW and CBS stations in 2017 and it also made the people mad that they couldn't see their CBS shows. What Nexstar should've done was offer alternate channels for CW and FOX until this was over but as long as they want to get more money they will continue to do so by having disputes with DirectTV

[TKMetal]

Originally Posted by Charles Knox

"DirecTV, in a statement of its own, said that Nexstar was demanding price increases, as well as asking that DirecTV carry The CW “and low-rated channels” in its lineup. The company also noted prior carriage disputes that involved Nexstar."

Looks like part of their demands is, they want DirecTV to carry both Antenna and Rewind TV.

DirecTV just started carrying MeTV today, which I don't think is coincidental.

[TMC]

DirecTV Accuses Nexstar of Further Expanding Mega-Blackout By Having Sinclair-Owned Stations Take Down CW Content From DirecTV Stream

By Daniel Frankel

Pay TV company said Nexstar, which owns CW, had content from the network removed from Sinclair-owned affiliate streaming feeds in 21 DMAs.

The retrans fight raging between DirecTV and Nexstar is getting downright petty, and we're not talking about either "Richard" or "Tom" here.

DirecTV fired off a letter to the FCC Tuesday morning, complaining that Nexstar Media Group has further expanded an ongoing station blackout, the biggest in pay TV history, to include the CW network streaming feeds that Sinclair Broadcast Group provides for its stations on the DirecTV Stream platform.

Nexstar, the largest station owner in the U.S., purchased a controlling interest in CW last October. Sinclair is the second largest U.S. station operator.

Two weeks ago, more than 160 Nexstar-owned stations were removed from the program guides of DirecTV satellite, U-Verse and DirecTV Stream. More than 40 stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting have also been affected.

In its letter to the FCC, DirecTV accuses Nexstar of dragging "into its dispute new viewers of a competing broadcaster against their will and regardless of DirecTV’s agreements to serve these viewers."

"Nexstar is and always has been in full compliance with FCC regulations, and the allegations raised by DirecTV in today’s filing are without merit," Nexstar said in a statement provided to Next TV.

The antipathy between the pay TV operator and the broadcaster runs deep.

Over the weekend, the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of DirecTV in an eight-year-old retrans dispute involving a Washington, D.C. affiliate.

DirecTV has a separate fraud claim in that dispute and is seeking millions of dollars more in punitive damages.

DirecTV is also litigating against Nexstar over its operational arrangements for Mission and White Knight stations.

[franciis]

why is direct tv soo high ? why not have many package deals ? why isnt antenna tv channel and rewind on direct tv ? have a choice.....why cant subscribers pick channels they will take time to watch....

[stevea]

Originally Posted by franciis

why is direct tv soo high ? why not have many package deals ? why isnt antenna tv channel and rewind on direct tv ? have a choice.....why cant subscribers pick channels they will take time to watch....

Antenna TV and Rewind TV are owned and probably largely ignored by Nexstar. So they would go dark also.

They're all too high-priced; Comcast is ridiculous too. It's these retransmission fees they all double-dip with. The viewer ends up paying more because of them, plus putting up with the same commercials as always.

[TMC]

• Nexstar-DirecTV Carriage Battle Grinds On As Football Season Nears Kickoff
  
• Blacked out: Dispute leaves local DirecTV customers without Fox and CBS
  
• Nexstar Fires Back at DIRECTV In Mission/White Knight Fight
  
• Nexstar Says DIRECTV is Manufacturing Blackout of ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Locals & FCC Shouldn’t Get Involved
  
• DirecTV Presses FCC Again To Investigate Nexstar's Management Role With White Knight And Mission
  
• Updated: DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: How to Watch Notre Dame-Navy On NBC Despite the Blackout
  
• Muck of the Irish: DirecTV Now Says It Can't Show Notre Dame-vs.-Navy in Blackout-affected Nexstar Markets (Updated)
  
• DIRECTV Files Updated FCC Complaint Against Nexstar Over Blackout of ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Locals
  
• DirecTV and Notre Dame Football Fly Above Nexstar Blackout with 4K Channel, New Sponsorship Deal
  
• What channel are the Colts on? Can I watch the Colts on DirecTV?
  
• NFL, PGA Tour TV viewing may be impacted by DirecTV-Nexstar dispute
  
• Channel 8 remains off DirecTV: Here’s the latest on the contract dispute
  
• DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: 7 Ways You Can Fight the Blackout
  
• DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: Why Did They Just Slam Each Other? Does That Mean a Deal Isn't Close?
  
• How Long Will The DIRECTV & Nexstar Blackout Last? Everything We Know
  
• DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: Should DIRECTV Offer More Than One $10 Credit?
  
• DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: Why You Should Be Careful Before You Switch TV Services
  
• Nexstar-DirecTV dispute impacting Tennessee Titans fans as NFL preseason begins
  
• DIRECTV viewers don't have to miss out on NBC programming
  
• DirecTV Loses Estimated 400000 Subs in Q2 ... With Monster Nexstar Blackout Lingering and the Start of the NFL ...
  
• DIRECTV vs. Nexstar: Could the FCC End the Channel Blackout?

[TMC]

Today in Cord Cutting Today for August 21st, 2023 we take a look at some of the biggest stories in the world of cord cutting including: DIRECTV's Fight with Nexstar is Getting Ugly As ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Remain Dark For Millions.

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DirecTV And Nexstar Agree To Temporarily Restore Stations, Letting Millions View NFL Football As Companies Finalize Carriage Deal

Nexstar stations temporarily restored to DirecTV after two-plus month carriage dispute

Over 150 Nexstar affiliates have been restored to DirecTV as the two sides approach a resolution to their carriage dispute.