The group owner's stations are back on the satellite service after being gone since Sept. 1.
RETRANS
Raycom Reaches Agreement With DirecTV
On Sunday morning, Raycom Media announced an agreement in principle with DirecTV. DirecTV viewers have been without Raycom Media stations since Sept. 1.
Raycom Media said in a statement that it had “promised to work around the clock and we have a deal in principle to get NFL football, local news and weather plus network and local programming back on DirecTV. Raycom Media will be working over the next few days to finalize the full agreement. We promise to keep you informed every step of the way.”
Raycom Media President-CEO, Paul McTear stated: “We appreciate our viewer’s patience. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank them for their loyalty to their local stations throughout this process. We are very pleased to be, once again, serving them on the DirecTV system and will keep them informed as we work to finalize this agreement.”
Comments (9)
Don Thompson says:
September 7, 2014 at 9:10 pm
There’s no moral equivalency in retransmission consent disputes. Raycom is serial retrans blackout bad actor. TV station owners like Raycom stage blackouts until they get their price, using the start of the NFL season as leverage. It’s definitely to time let consumers decide how many “pennies a day” they want to pay for free TV, unfettered by government-mandated basic tier carriage and basic tier buy through requirements, with a must carry backstop in case Air Marshall Moonves at CBS decides to strip the station of its affiliation. Please send my condolences to LIN Media’s WISH in Indianapolis.
Raycom did to DirecTV exactly what Sinclair says Comcast-Time Warner Cable will to do to broadcasters: blackmail or blackout. I look forward to seeing Sinclair ask the FCC to impose the Rockefeller-Thune Local Choice formula on Comcast-Time Warner Cable as a merger condition …………………. Please follow me on Twitter @TedatACA
Don Thompson says:
September 7, 2014 at 9:53 pm
DIRECTV Blasts Raycom After Ending Blackout
By Swanni/TV Predictions
Follow @SwanniOnTV on Twitter
Washington, D.C. (September 7, 2014) – DIRECTV and Raycom ended their six-day programming dispute today, returning the latter’s 53 local stations to the satcaster’s airwaves shortly before the kickoff of today’s NFL games. However, despite the accord, DIRECTV blasted Raycom and other programmers for creating what the company calls “contrived blackouts.”
In a statement at its web site, DIRECTVPromise.com, DIRECTV thanked its Raycom viewers for their patience during the six-day blackout. (DIRECTV had been without the Raycom stations since Sunday at midnight when the old programming agreement expired.)
But the satcaster also used the occasion to lash out at Raycom and other programmers who demand higher fees to carry their channels.
“We thank all of our affected customers for their patience over these last several days and regret that Raycom and too many other broadcast stations are willing to resort to these contrived blackouts to antagonize the public rather than serve it,” said Dan York, DIRECTV’s chief content officer.
York continued: “Broadcast station groups who ransom their content back into their communities at exorbitant fees deserve the scrutiny of the Federal Communications Commission and local Congressional representatives. Raycom’s intentional recent blackouts of Dish, Cox and now DIRECTV customers creates an even greater sense of urgency for lawmakers to review and overhaul this anti-consumer retransmission consent process once and for all.”
The companies say some details need to be ironed out before today’s agreement is finalized but that seems to be a formality at this point.
…………………………. Please follow me on Twitter @TedatACA
Don Thompson says:
September 7, 2014 at 10:50 pm
Better headline: DirecTV Reaches Disagreement With TV Cashcaster Raycom
Wagner Pereira says:
September 8, 2014 at 3:13 am
Even Better Headline – ACA’s Ted Hearn cries like a spoiled brat after another MVPD learns you cannot blackout a Big 4 Network for any length of time, especially with no revenue parity among channels. …………………………. Please follow me on Twitter @NotTedatACA
Brett Zongker says:
September 8, 2014 at 7:23 am
Because DirecTV cares so much about consumers: http://tvpredictions.com/tv090814.htm
kendra campbell says:
September 8, 2014 at 8:48 am
Raycom continues to demonstrate contempt for its customers. Very bad actor.
Michelle Underwood says:
September 8, 2014 at 10:01 am
Gee Ted, if choice is so good, let’s go full ala carte for ALL Cable channels? Some channels can’t make it on their own? Too bad – that indicates there is no demand and that they are subsidized Your hypocrisy is astounding.
Allan Wikman says:
September 8, 2014 at 10:11 am
Recommendation to TV NewsCheck: identify Ted Hearn as VP of Communications for the American Cable Association on all his posts. By law, TV stations have to identify political messages with a disclaimer, why not label all of his posts with the precursor: “message paid for by the American Cable Association”. Make sure everyone reading your fine daily journal knows the agenda of someone trying to game the system. This is not some well-meaning commentator on the industry; he’s a paid lobbyist with a specific, anti-TV message!