ANNA MARIA ISLAND – More than 6 million customers of DirecTV nationwide are estimated to be without Nexstar Media Group stations and some CBS stations since July 4, and the end is not in sight.
On Anna Maria Island, news, sports and science fans are the hardest hit, with Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA (News Channel 8), St. Petersburg My-Network affiliate WTTA (Channel 38), which runs WFLA news programs, CBS Sports Network and the Smithsonian Channel remaining dark, among others.
A DirecTV message on each dark channel’s screen blames Nexstar – which owns some of the channels, including WFLA – for raising prices and removing the channels and indicates that negotiations are continuing between DirecTV parent AT&T and Nexstar.
“Our goal is simple,” AT&T tells customers on its website, tvpromise.att.com. “To deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them. We continue to fight for that here and appreciate our customers’ patience.”
“CBS and Nexstar are withholding them from your lineup until they each get a huge fee increase.” – AT&T
“Contrary to AT&T’s public statements, Nexstar in no way pulled its stations or asked for their removal.” – Nexstar
However, Nexstar claims on its website, nexstar.tv, that AT&T is running a “misinformation campaign” and that Nexstar did not remove the channels, but instead offered an extension that would have allowed DirecTV customers to keep their channels through Thursday, Aug. 8, while negotiations continue.
All about the money
“We pay programmers for the right to provide the channels you watch. Regrettably, many will threaten to remove their content from your lineup to try and collect more money for the same programs… CBS and Nexstar are withholding them from your lineup until they each get a huge fee increase,” according to AT&T.
A message on the AT&T website for ZIP codes 34216 and 34217 on Anna Maria Island reads, in part: “Nexstar recently pulled WFLA-NBC and WTTA-MNT from our customers’ homes after demanding the largest increase AT&T has ever seen proposed by any content provider… We had hoped to avoid any unnecessary interruption to WTOG-CW, WFLA-NBC and WTTA-MNT or national channels that some of our customers care about. But CBS and Nexstar each refused.”
“Contrary to AT&T’s public statements, Nexstar in no way pulled its stations or asked for their removal,” Nexstar claims on its website. “Nexstar wants nothing more than to bring its programming back to viewers by completing a new fair market agreement with AT&T and continues to negotiate in good faith to establish a mutually agreeable contract with DirecTV,” the company states, adding that Nexstar has offered the same rates to AT&T that other companies have agreed to this year.
A federal case
The dispute may give rise to violations of the federal Communications Act, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but the FCC will not act unless a “bad faith” claim is filed against one of the parties, an FCC spokeswoman said Friday.
The Communications Act prohibits satellite and cable operators from retransmitting commercial broadcast TV signals like WFLA’s without first obtaining the broadcaster’s consent, according to the FCC. Retransmission consent typically requires a satellite or cable company to pay the broadcaster for the use of its signal.
Alternately, local broadcast TV stations may require a satellite or cable operator that serves the same market as the broadcaster to carry its signal, called “must-carry.” But if a broadcast station asserts its must-carry rights, the broadcaster cannot demand compensation from the satellite or cable operator.
Fees for the more popular retransmission consent option have increased from about $200,000 in 2006 to $10.1 billion in 2018, an increase of 4,950%, according to AT&T.
Workarounds
Customers can still view the blacked-out channels with alternate methods, according to AT&T.
“You can watch the same shows for free over the air on channels 44, 8 and 38 (with a tabletop antenna). You can typically stream them at the WTOG-CW, WFLA-NBC and WTTA-MNT websites and often at cwtv.com and nbc.com or using the CW and NBC mobile apps, according to the site,” according to AT&T.
Some customers can turn off their set-top receivers and tune their digital TV sets to channels 44, 8 and 38, the company advises.
“You can also qualify for an innovative AT&T product called Local Channel Connector that can put WTOG-CW, WFLA-NBC and WTTA-MNT into the program guides of many DIRECTV customers with Genie receivers.”
AT&T also offers an alternative means for watching CBS channels using the CBS All Access service for $5.99 a month with a free trial.
Another option is to change providers, but DirecTV warns that some other providers are experiencing the same problems.
Customers choosing to stay with DirecTV can request a price adjustment on their bill for the missing channels.
