For the past 10 weeks, around 10 million DIRECTV customers have been unable to watch local TV stations owned by Nexstar due to a blackout that started on July 2 when the agreement between the two companies expired.
DIRECTV has accused Nexstar of demanding higher carriage fees, while Nexstar claims that DIRECTV is not willing to pay a fair price for their content
The blackout has been ongoing for 76 days and has affected 21 Sinclair-owned CW affiliates.
But now there is some good news!
After 76 days, both companies reached an agreement to end the blackout, allowing DIRECTV customers to once again watch Nexstar-owned local TV stations.
In a joint statement, DIRECTV and Nexstar thanked their customers for their patience and said,
“In recognition and appreciation of the continued patience of DirecTV customers and Nexstar viewers, the companies have agreed to temporarily return the signals of the Nexstar-owned stations and national cable news network NewsNation to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse while we both work to complete the terms of an agreement.”
This means that the 21 Sinclair-owned CW affiliates that were affected by the blackout will also be available to DIRECTV customers once again.
Last week we reported that Tom Carter, a senior Nexstar advisor, gave some hope during a Bank of America investors conference.
He was optimistic about resolving the 10-week-long dispute with DIRECTV. Carter said that Nexstar wouldn’t accept just any deal but mentioned that they’ve made progress in the negotiations.
However, this temporary agreement, though not the final resolution, offers hope to viewers eager to regain access to their favorite local stations and NewsNation.
Abdur Rahman is a seasoned journalist who covers all things related to TV and streaming. As of May 2, 2023, Abdur is writing for Homespoiler.com. More about him