As of December 2nd, 2020 approximately 60 local stations owned by TEGNA were blacked-out following the expirations of carriage agreements with DIRECTV, AT&T U-Verse TV and AT&T TV.
The two parties were unfortunately not able to come to terms in an effort to either temporarily extend the previous contracts or agree on new carriage agreements.
The blackout of local stations will mean AT&T subscribers to any of the mentioned services will not be able to watch local programming, live events, and upcoming locally-distributed college and NFL football games this coming weekend.
“Following a self-reported revenue of $738 million in 2020’s third quarter, TEGNA’s demand for astronomical retransmission fees on the backs of American consumers is baffling,” said ATVA spokesperson Jessica Kendust.
“The differentiated, non-substitutable programming we provide including live local news, live local and national sports and first run, highly popular network content is a vital reason why consumers continue to subscribe to (pay-TV) bundles,” a Tegna spokesperson told USA Today.
Tegna owns local ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW stations and depending on the market has exclusive control over programming. See a list of Tegna brands.
