The AT&T streaming service continues to bring on affiliates of ABC, NBC and Fox, but still none from CBS. Hang up seems to be inability of the network to come to terms with AT&T on blanket agreement for affils. By the end of August, AT&T says,“almost 70% of U.S. TV households” will have at least one local TV station available on DirecTV Now.
DirecTV Now Only Major vMVPD Without CBS
AT&T’s “DirecTv Now” on-line video service announced it will add local affiliates of the ABC, NBC, and Fox broadcast networks in 35 more TV markets beginning this week. But the service did not announce a distribution agreement with CBS or any of its affiliates.
As of now, “DirecTv Now” and Dish Network’s Sling TV are the only major on-line video services that do not distribute any CBS TV stations. CBS has said it its negotiating with the services, but the firms appear to be at a stalemate over pricing. In a statement, “DirecTv Now” said it will add ABC affiliates in 30 additional markets, including Boston, Atlanta, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The service said it will add four additional NBC stations, in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, and West Palm Beach, Fla.
The company also noted it plans to add the Fox affiliate in Juneau, Alaska. The NBC and CBS affiliates in that market, which are owned by Denali Media Holdings, have been dark on the AT&T DirecTv DBS service for almost six months as a result of a retransmission consent dispute. In its statement, “DirecTv Now” said the roll out of the new stations should be completed by the end of next month.
At that point, the company said, “almost 70 percent of U.S. TV households” will have at least one local TV station available on “DirecTv Now.”
Meanwhile, the Hulu live, on-line TV service said it will add HBO for $14.99 per month and Cinemax for $9.99 per month
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