AT&T’s DirecTV, U-verse, and AT&T TV lost about 60 local stations owned by Tegna and Dish Network lost 164 Nexstar local stations resulting in what we can now call the Sunday Night Football Blackout.
Both were separate agreements in which new contracts or extensions were not able to be made to extend carriage into December.
The Tegna stations affect 39% of all U.S. TV households in 51 markets (see a list of all Tegna brands). The Nexstar blackout affects about 5.4 million subscriber (Here’s a list of those stations affected.)
“Unfortunately, DIRECTV and AT&T U-Verse have not reached an agreement with TEGNA to keep our stations on the air,” said a Tegna spokesperson last week when the previous contract expired on
“In the midst of an ongoing pandemic, Tegna is demanding the largest rate increase we have ever seen and intentionally blacking out its most loyal viewers,” said AT&T.
How to Watch NFL Football on Local Stations?
One way is to download the Yahoo Sports app and stream the games on a mobile device. The NFL streams (available all season) are free for both local and primetime games.
Another way is over-the-air. Local stations, DirecTV, & Dish are directing viewers to tune-in to local broadcasts using an antenna. Don’t know how to get free local TV? Learn how to get HD channels free over-the-air.
DirecTV is pointing subscribers to tune-in to a Spanish-language broadcast of the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.
The black outs come at a bad time. Many families are staying home during the coronavirus pandemic and look forward to watching sports other local programming on the stations.
DirecTV and AT&T U-verse representatives sent letters to Tegna asking for permission to broadcast college and NFL games this weekend. They even offered to pay for a full day of transmission fees just for a three hour game (which game would depend on location).
[Editor’s Note: In the original article Tegna was mispelled in this article as Tenga.]
