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DirecTV Claims Nexstar Is Holding Channels Hostage To Get More Money

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DirecTV has provided an update on the Nexstar situation, although it isn’t a positive one. DirecTV says Nexstar is dragging the situation out, even going so far as to suggest Nexstar is holding the channels hostage in an attempt to get more money.

The dispute between DirecTV and Nexstar took significant effect in early July when NewsNation, along with more than 150 local TV stations became unavailable on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-verse.

Since then, not a lot has changed. In today’s statement, DirecTV says that “Nexstar continues to hold your local news and sports hostage.” The statement goes on to suggest that Nexstar is purposely doing this “to secure double the rates for the same programming that’s free over-the-air today.”

This latter point seems to be DirecTV’s main issue, as it is claiming Nexstar wants “double what DIRECTV customers previously paid for the same programming.” In addition, DirecTV says there hasn’t been any real progress made since the blackout.

As to be expected, DirecTV puts the lack of progress blame on the other party, stating that “Nexstar has made little movement on its end.” In contrast, DirecTV claims to have made “substantial offers to try to find middle ground with the goal of returning local news and sports programming to our affected customers as quickly as possible and at the right value.”

In explaining one of the measures it has tried to implement in the interest of customers, DirecTV says, while negotiations continue, it asked Nexstar for an extension through February 2024. However, DirecTV claims that “Nexstar is fixated on an extension set to expire on Oct. 31.” An extension DirecTV had previously rejected.

Due to this, DirecTV is now warning that there is a high risk that the outage will continue into the college and NFL football seasons.

Ever since the dispute started, DirecTV has been offering affected customers a one-time credit of $10, which can be redeemed through the company’s TV Promise website.

DirecTV is also now advising affected customers to make use of an over-the-air antenna or alternate services to access any missing local channels. Specifically mentioning Paramount Plus for CBS (requires Paramount+ with Showtime plan) and Peacock for NBC (requires Premium Plus plan).

John Finn

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