DirecTV

DirecTV has reached a carriage deal with conservative news outlet Newsmax, ending two months of media industry acrimony that spilled into Washington. Under the new multi-year deal, Newsmax will return Thursday to DirecTV satellite systems, DirecTV Stream internet bundles and U-verse cable. With about 13 million subscribers, DirecTV is one of the top pay-TV providers in the U.S.

Mission and White Knight stations, which are largely managed by Nexstar, have been blacked out on DirecTV platforms since October.

DirecTV has responded to GOP senators’ requests to explain its decision to drop the conservative news network Newsmax, saying the cut was part of a “routine” business dispute after criticism that the move was political.

hree weeks into its carriage dispute with Newsmax, DirecTV has called out the ultra-conservative media company for using its “news/editorial platform” to wage what it views as simply a business negotiation. “It’s troubling that Newsmax is using its news/editorial platform to publish inaccurate and misleading information regarding our contract dispute,” wrote Michael Hartman, DirecTV general counsel and chief external affairs officer.

Under siege from Republicans and conservatives, DirecTV on Sunday said it was still interested in bringing back right-wing news channel Newsmax. DirecTV dropped Newsmax prompting concerns among some lawmakers about censorship and conservative views being stifled. The satellite company seemed to be extending an olive branch on its website, where it made a statement concerning Newsmax. DirecTV remained adamant that it will not pay the license fee that Newsmax is demanding.

DirecTV is getting more pressure — this time from a group of Senate Republicans — over its decision to drop the conservative Newsmax network after a carriage agreement expired. In response to the DirecTV move and Newsmax complaints, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee; Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Mike Lee (R-Utah); and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote the CEOs of DirecTV and parents AT&T and TPG Capital, voicing concerns and “demanding” answers.

After raising Republican ire by dropping right-wing news channel Newsmax, DirecTV announced that it is adding The First, described as a conservative-appeal commentary channel, to its DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV services. DirecTV said it has made a multiyear commitment to carry the channel, which will be provided free to subscribers. DirecTV maintains that Newsmax is no longer being carried because it wanted a carriage fee after previously not charging one.

DirecTV stopped carrying Newsmax when an extension of their carriage agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday in a move that could have repercussions in Washington. DirecTV, one of the first distributors to carry Newsmax, said it ceased carrying Newsmax because the conservative news network was seeking a carriage fee after being available free previously.

Conservative news network Newsmax might be dropped from DirecTV this week, in a move that Republican lawmakers are saying they would investigate although the pay-TV provider said the motivation is saving costs. DirecTV says it has been carrying Newsmax on its satellite TV service, DirecTV Stream and U-verse platforms at no cost to customers because Newsmax has not been charging a fee to carry the channel. That allows Newsmax the ability to generate advertising revenue. “However the network is now seeking significant fees that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base,” DirecTV said.

DirecTV said a California judge has stricken the central claims in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Herring Networks over DirecTV’s decision to drop the One America News cable network in January 2022. The ruling was made Jan. 13 by Judge John Meyer of the Superior Court of California in San Diego County.

As cord cutting grows, TV providers like DirecTV have been getting hit hard recently as Americans look for ways to cut their bills as inflation hits their wallets. Now it has been reported that DirecTV will be laying off hundreds of employees to help offset the losses. According to a report by CNBC, about 10% of the satellite service’s managers will be laid off, with their last day on Jan. 20.

The potential loss of 1.5 million Sunday Ticket customers presents a challenge to DirecTV.

NBCUniversal has expanded Peacock’s distribution, with the service last week joining DirecTV Stream’s lineup at a discounted price. DirecTV Stream customers can now add a Peacock Premium subscription (with ads) to their plan for $2.99 per month – $2 off the regular price of $4.99 per month. They also have the benefit of managing Peacock, along with any other streaming subscription purchased via DirecTV, under a single bill.

DirecTV lost about 500,000 subscribers in the third quarter, leaving it with a total of 13.3 million, according to a report by credit rating agency Fitch Ratings. DirecTV was spun off by AT&T last year and no longer publicly reports its subscriber numbers. Cord cutting has accelerated recently, but Fitch indicated that DirecTV loss rates “have substantially improved over the last two years, driven by lower churn.”

A few days before the expiration of a carriage deal with DirecTV, Fox Corp. is warning viewers of its networks about a potential blackout as the companies continue to negotiate. On Sunday, Fox began airing a crawl across the bottom of the screen on networks including FS1, the Big Ten Network and Fox News. The message advised viewers of the potential outage. Ahead of a Dec. 2 deadline at midnight PT, the companies are continuing to hold active talks.

The 20-year merger dalliance between satellite TV companies DirecTV and Dish Network has a window to finally consummate following completion of the 2022 midterm election cycle next week, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen told equity analysts and business journalist Wednesday during his company’s 3Q earnings call.

In the midst of a retransmission fee dispute with DirecTV, Mission Broadcasting has prepared letters for its station general managers to send to government officials blaming an intractable satellite company for the blackout impacting their constituents.

White Knight Broadcasting turned down DirecTV’s request that the satellite provider set aside until after the elections the retransmission-fee dispute that has blacked out the broadcaster’s stations to DirecTV subscribers.

DirecTV is asking the 27 stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting that are blacked out to its subscribers because of a retransmission consent fee dispute to return their signals through election day. The satellite company is offering to pay the stations whatever new rate winds up being negotiated retroactively to the return of the signals.

Mission Broadcasting, which operates 25 network affiliates spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, New York and a dozen other states, has been pulled from DirecTV and U-verse pay TV platforms. The skirmish marks another pay TV blackout that involves Nexstar Media Group, which manages the Mission stations.

On Sunday, the digital component of DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket wasn’t working. DirecTV issued an apology on Sunday night. On Monday, DirecTV provided a follow-up. “We will begin to reach out to our customers who were unable to stream some of the games on Sunday to let them know we will automatically reimburse them for Week Two,” a DirecTV spokesperson said. “We apologize to our customers for their experience and for the inconvenience.”

DirecTV said via social media that customers trying to stream the 1 p.m. ET games on Sept. 18 were unable to through the app. Shortly after 4 p.m. ET, they said that the server problems were fixed and that streaming could resume.

DirecTV said it has added Bounce and Grit, two of E.W. Scripps’ digital multicast networks, to its satellite system, effective Thursday.

Amazon’s Prime Video reached a deal with DirecTV to air its Thursday Night Football games in more than 300,000 businesses such as bars and restaurants. The announcement comes as the National Football League’s preseason is underway. DirecTV will air its first game with Amazon Prime Video — a matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans — on Thursday.

Leichtman Research Group estimates that DirecTV lost around 400,000 customers across its DirecTV satellite, DirecTV virtual and U-verse TV platforms in the second quarter. LRG postulates that DirecTV, jointly owned by AT&T and private equity company TPG Capital, has around 13.9 million remaining subscribers. This is around 12 million fewer than existed between DirecTV satellite and U-verse back in May 2014, when AT&T agreed to pay $49 billion to buy DirecTV and — briefly — usurped Comcast to become the nation’s No. 1 pay TV operator.

DirecTV is reportedly close to securing the rights from Amazon to show NFL Thursday Night Football in restaurants and bars. The news is a relief to establishment owners who claim streaming just doesn’t work in multi-TV environments because of latency issues.

Dish wants to deploy 5G wireless services in the 12 GHz spectrum band. DirecTV thinks that’s going to present serious interference issues with its satellite TV service.

DirecTV said it is making programming from the Marquee Sports Network, a joint venture of Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, available nationwide, except for live games of the Cubs and the WNBA Chicago Sky. The satellite company already carried the regional sports network in Chicago.

DirecTV will drop far-right cable news outlet One America News Network on Tuesday, April 4. The satellite TV behemoth said earlier this year that it planned to no longer carry OAN, which was criticized for spreading false information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 presidential election and its general spread of conspiracy theories, once its contract expires. OAN began airing on DirecTV in April 2017.

DirecTV, spun off last year from AT&T, is setting up a new, independent advertising sales team headed by Amy Leifer, chief advertising sales officer, effective Friday. The new unit — DirecTV Advertising — is launching with a staff of about 400 people and a focus on helping advertisers reach target audiences within the DirecTV and DirecTV Stream footprint, Leifer said.

Satellite-distributor DirecTV, which weeks ago unveiled plans to drop conservative outlet OAN, still wants to offer viewers right-leaning content. The company said it had already begun to offer Fox Nation, the subscription-video service that acts as a companion service to Fox News Channel. Fox Nation is being made available as a “premium add-on” for DirecTV subscribers, the company said.

One America News might have to shut down because of DirecTV’s decision to drop the right-wing network from its channel lineup, OAN said in a lawsuit against DirecTV and its owner AT&T. DirecTV recently said it will drop OAN after their carriage contract expires in early April. DirecTV will also drop AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment), as OAN and AWE are both owned by Herring Networks. Herring alleges breach of contract and other violations were committed by AT&T, DirecTV and AT&T Board Chairman William Kennard.

has upheld the collective multimillion-dollar fines against a number of TV stations for violating its mandate that retransmission negotiations be conducted in good faith, saying a challenge to that decision failed both on procedural grounds and on the merits. AT&T, the former owner of DirecTV, had filed the good-faith complaint against Deerfield Media, GoCom Media, Howard Stirk Holdings, HSH, Mercury Broadcasting, MPS Media, KMTR Television, Second Generation of Iowa and Waitt Broadcasting, all of which the FCC said failed to meet its standard for good faith negotiation.

DirecTV is again removing four A&E-owned channels from subscriber lineups if the satcaster deems that the subscriber isn’t watching them very often. The channels are: The History Channel, A&E Network, Vice, and Lifetime Movies. All four channels are owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture owned by Disney and Hearst.