DirecTV has lost 54 local stations due to an ongoing dispute with Scripps Local Media. DirecTV confirmed the loss of the stations yesterday, confirming they were removed from the lineup at 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 31.
What You Need to Know
- 54 Scripps local stations were removed from DirecTV yesterday after contract negotiations failed.
- DirecTV says Scripps demanded the highest fees it has ever seen from a station group.
- The lost channels impact customers in a number of major cities, including Detroit, Denver, Miami, and Phoenix
The 54 local broadcast stations apply to 36 Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs), and were removed for all DirecTV customers, including streaming, satellite, and U-verse customers.
Cities affected by this change include Baltimore, Boise, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Lexington, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Omaha, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and West Palm Beach, among others.
According to DirecTV, the channels were pulled by Scripps following the inability of the two sides to agree a new deal. DirecTV says “Scripps is demanding the highest rates” the company has “ever received from a station group.”
DirecTV goes on to explain that agreeing to the new rates would “dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses.” The company also said that once those terms were declined, Scripps made the decision to remove the stations.
“We understand customers are frustrated by temporarily losing their usual access to Scripps stations and the local news, network programming, and live sports they provide,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV. “Unfortunately, Scripps is demanding the highest rates we have ever seen for programming that remains available for free over-the-air and through many station, network, and third-party streaming apps.”
DirecTV says it will continue to negotiate with Scripps in hope of finding what it considers to be a more reasonable agreement, but no indication was given as to whether a new deal was likely to be agreed.
As a result, it remains unclear if or when the affected channels might return to the DirecTV channel lineup.
“We remain committed to protecting customers from indiscriminate and unnecessary cost increases for less popular programming while still working to restore the stations that many viewers rely on,” added Thun.
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