Some DirecTV customers woke up on Sunday without Fox or the CW networks on their television sets, the result of a failed negotiation with Tribune Broadcasting, which owns or operates 23 television stations across the United States.
The blackout effects stations in 19 markets, including New York, where Tribune owns the CW network affiliate WPIX; Philadelphia, where it owns MyNetworkTV affiliate WPHL; Chicago, where it owns CW affiliate WGN-TV; Los Angeles, where it owns CW affiliate KTLA; and Seattle, where it owns Fox affiliate KCPQ. It also effects WGN America, a version of WGN-TV that is available on cable and satellite systems in many parts of the country.
Blackouts are the occasional result of disputes between distributors like DirecTV and station owners like Tribune. This one is notable because DirecTV is the second-biggest TV distributor in the United States, behind Comcast, and because it comes at the beginning of baseball season, when viewers expect to be able to watch the games.
Typically the disputes are resolved within hours or days. DirecTV acknowledged as much; according to Multichannel News, it advised subscribers, “There is no need for you to do anything at this time as these matters are typically resolved in a short amount of time.”
But Tribune, which is trying to get DirecTV to pay for the right to retransmit its stations, urged viewers to call DirecTV and complain about the blackout. Such payments have become common, but are a source of profound tension because, distributors say, they force the cost of television subscriptions to go up.
Nils Larsen, the president of Tribune Broadcasting, said in a statement: “This situation is extremely unfortunate. We don’t want anyone to lose the valuable programming we provide, but we simply cannot get fair compensation from DirecTV and we cannot allow DirecTV to continue taking advantage of us.”
The station blackout started at midnight when Tribune’s existing contract with DirecTV expired. In the preceding hours, there was confusion about whether a new contract had been reached; DirecTV suggested that it had been, but Tribune disagreed.
In a statement late Saturday night, DirecTV said, “We’re extremely perplexed as Tribune management and DirecTV had a handshake deal on Thursday with an agreed upon rate for their channels. Their actions are the true definition of ‘bad faith’ in every sense of the term.”
DirecTV’s statement wondered aloud whether Tribune, which has been in bankruptcy proceedings for about three years, was “focused on unduly benefiting their creditors rather than viewers.”
“Threatening station blackouts to extract an exorbitant fee for all of Tribune’s content may provide an improved return for certain banks and hedge funds,” the distributor said, “but is not in the interest of its viewers and is not a cure for bankruptcy.”
Tribune did not respond to that comment, but on a Web site for fans of its stations, it said that DirecTV’s claims about a contract agreement were “inaccurate and misleading.”
Mr. Larsen warned that without a new contract agreement, “sports fans in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington “will be deprived of one of baseball’s most cherished events — Opening Day.”
That remains to be seen. There are other ways to watch baseball games, including Major League Baseball’s subscription Web site. And there are other ways to watch the Tribune stations. The company reminded DirecTV subscribers that they could buy a TV antenna and pick up the stations over the public airwaves while the blackout is in place.