The Sarkes Tarzian-owned stations — WRCB, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga, Tenn., and KTVN, the CBS affiliate in Reno, Nev. — posted notices on their websites that U-verse is no longer carrying them. U-Verse owner AT&T and Sarkes Tarzian are fighting over how much the telco should pay to carry the two.
Raycom Media on Sunday, March 26, reached an agreement with AT&T U-Verse to restore Raycom Media stations to the AT&T U-Verse cable lineup in 23 markets. The stations went dark at 11:59 p.m. ET on March 15. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that restores our Raycom Media station’s signals on the AT&T U-Verse system,” said Raycom Media President-CEO Pat LaPlatney. “We apologize to our viewers for this inconvenience, and appreciate their patience during the impasse.”
The broadcaster says the MVPD “appears to be using programming disruptions as an opportunity to switch AT&T U-Verse customers to its DirecTV service. When disgruntled AT&T U- Verse subscribers call to lodge a complaint, they are offered a subscription with DirecTV, the very same company as AT&T. In some instances, subscribers are also pushed to DirecTV NOW, a service that in many markets does not carry any local broadcast affiliates: a zero-sum game for subscribers.”
Dec. 31 is the deadline for a new contract between Cox Media Group’s stations and AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV.
The new multi-year agreement means AT&T DirecTV and U-Verse customers will continue to have access to NBCU broadcast and cable networks live and on-demand through linear TV, online and TV Everywhere apps.
AT&T and Univision Communications’ efforts to make each other look like the culprit in a blackout of the Spanish-language broadcaster on U-verse led to some confusion over whether it will remain available for 24 hours after Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate.
Exclusives
Univision-owned stations went dark on AT&T’s U-verse platform early Friday, prompting the Spanish-language broadcaster to accuse the telecom giant of “discriminatory behavior” and audience “redlining” in retransmission consent negotiations.
Spanish-language programmer Univision said its channels will go dark on AT&T U-verse if a new carriage deal isn’t hammered out by Feb. 28.
AT&T is phasing out the U-verse TV service as it pushes new customers to newly acquired DirecTV, a sign the company is giving up on once-heralded plans to compete head-on with cable through telephone lines. AT&T has stopped building U-verse set-top boxes and is nudging prospective customers toward its satellite unit, which has lower hardware and programming costs.
WSVN Miami Back On AT&T U-verse
WSVN Miami has returned to AT&T’s U-verse lineup following a dispute that kept the Sunbeam Television-owned Fox affiliate blacked out to U-verse subscribers since Jan. 16.
Tegna announced Saturday that it has reached a multi-year agreement insuring continued carriage of its TV stations on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse with no interruption of service to viewers. Tegna Media comprises 46 television stations, reaching approximately one-third of all television households nationwide.
AT&T’s DirecTV and U-Verse units and station owner Tegna have agreed to delay a potential blackout for 24 hours in hopes they can resolve their retransmission dispute. The existing contract is now set to expire at midnight Friday. The agreement covers 47 stations.
Subscribers to AT&T’s DirecTV and U-verse don’t have to worry about losing access to Tribune Media’s TV stations and WGN America. The companies say that they have a multi-year agreement to continue carriage. The previous deal expired on Sept. 30 and was extended to Oct. 20.
AT&T and Tribune Media on Friday entered into a quiet phase, nearly 48 hours after the last announced extension to a legacy broadcast retransmission agreement between Tribune and AT&T’s U-verse platform expired.
“Final” talks continue between Tribune Media and AT&T U-Verse, more than two weeks after a retransmission agreement expired between the cable company and the station group. If they don’t reach a deal by the latest deadline of Oct. 20, U-Verse subscribers could lose access to the stations.
Negotiations to avoid blackouts of more than 100 TV stations carried by DirecTV and U-verse extended well into the night on Wednesday as both companies faced midnight ET deadlines on contracts with two large station groups. DirecTV and Media General late Wednesday agreed to push the deadline by three hours to midnight PT after a marathon negotiating session for retransmission consent rights to 62 stations. U-verse’s talks with Tribune Media for a new retrans pact covering 24 stations stretched late into the night on Wednesday.
More than 150 TV stations run by Tribune Media, Tegna and Media General could disappear late Wednesday/early Thursday from Dish, DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse if carriage deals between the stations and system operators lapse. Each case appears to come down to price.
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