Tegna Stations Go Dark On DirecTV, U-verse

Tegna issued this statement Tuesday evening following its approximately 60 stations being pulled: “Unfortunately, DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse have not come to an agreement with Tegna to keep our stations available on their services. Our company has successfully negotiated multi-year deals with hundreds of cable and satellite providers across the country without disruptions to service.

“Our content remains the most popular and highly viewed programming available. More importantly, the value of what we offer to our MVPD partners has never been greater. 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 MVPD bundles.

“While we remain hopeful that this will get resolved quickly, our viewers should know that our channels are available on other service providers in their community as well as many streaming services that offer instant access when viewers sign up. As always, our stations are also available for free over-the-air and viewers can watch our newscasts live on our stations’ websites, Roku and mobile apps.”

In response, AT&T released a statement: “We have every intention of getting Tegna’s stations back as soon as possible, but the law grants Tegna exclusive control over which homes can have their channels. We regret any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

“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. We challenge Tegna to return its local stations immediately while we finalize a new agreement and pledge to pay Tegna retroactively whatever higher rates to which we eventually agree. We share our customers’ frustration, appreciate their patience and intend to do all we can to resolve this matter soon.”