DirecTV and Scripps Agree New Deal, Local Stations Returning to Lineup

DirecTV and The E.W. Scripps Company have agreed a new deal that brings an end to a dispute that resulted in the loss of a number of local channels. With a new agreement in place, those affected local stations are now in the process of returning to the lineup.

On May 31, more than 50 Scripps local stations were removed from DirecTV after the two companies failed to agree a new deal. Since then, those channels had remained unavailable to consumers in the affected regions.

That’s now changed. The two sides have reached a multi-year agreement that ends a dispute that has lasted five weeks and results in all 54 local broadcast stations returning to customers in the 36 affected metro regions.

At the time of the blackout, DirecTV accused Scripps of demanding “the highest rates” it had ever seen for programming available for free over-the-air.

DirecTV also said that agreeing to those terms would ultimately result in higher costs being passed on to consumers.

While details of the financial agreement have yet to be provided, the two sides appear to have found some middle ground.

“We’re grateful to our customers for their patience. Like them, we are frustrated that broadcasters use blackouts as a tool to force us to accept unwarranted rate hikes that consistently exceed normal, inflationary increases, and by a lot,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV. “At a time when affordability matters more than ever, families are too often asked to pay more while receiving less.”

In spite of a deal, DirecTV’s Thun made clear that the current system is not working as intended and places more pressure on consumers.

“Local broadcasters were entrusted with serving their communities through local news, weather, emergency information, and hometown sports,” Thun added. “But as ownership becomes concentrated among a handful of ever-larger broadcasters gaining stations across new and within their existing markets, those expanded stations become increasingly powerful and further unbalanced negotiating tools. The more markets and major network affiliations a broadcaster controls, the greater its ability to withhold programming from the very communities it is meant to serve.”

With these criticisms in mind, Thun also called for a change to the system in the future.

“Consumers should never lose access to essential local television because of a carriage dispute. It’s time to modernize the system so it rewards service to local communities—and not consolidated market power—by returning to the original purpose of broadcasting of putting viewers’ interests first,” Thun said.