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Hearst and Cox TV Stations Taken Off DirecTV

Jan 3, 2017  •  Post A Comment

As 2016 became 2017 and deadlines arrived in retransmission consent negotiations, Hearst Television stations in 28 markets — a total of about 33 stations — went dark on DirecTV systems just after midnight on Jan. 1, as did about 14 Cox Media stations in 10 markets.

The disruption affects customers of both DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.

Multichannel.com notes that Hearst had been warning viewers about the possibility of a service disruption since late December. Hearst released a statement on its station websites, noting that is has successfully renegotiated contracts in the past with no service interruptions.

In a statement, WLKY President and General Manager Glenn Haygood said: “Unfortunately, the DirecTV negotiating team is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable given the significant investments we have made to deliver top tier programming to our viewers. We regret the inconvenience DirecTV’s demands have imposed on its subscribers, and we will keep you fully informed of developments.”

Multichannel notes that the affected Hearst markets include Boston (ABC affiliate WCVB); Pittsburgh (ABC affiliate WTAE); New Orleans (NBC affiliate WDSU); Baltimore (NBC affiliate WBAL); Louisville, Ky. (CBS affiliate WLKY); and Orlando, Fla. (NBC affiliate WESH).

“DirecTV also lost access to about 14 Cox Media properties in 10 markets, including Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Seattle; and Tulsa, Okla., on Jan.1 after its carriage deal expired,” the report notes.

Cox Media EVP of Television Jane Williams said in a statement: “Negotiations continue, and we expect this disruption to be brief considering that every other pay-TV provider has come to reasonable terms with CMG. We have made ourselves available twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week to get this deal done.”

16 Comments

  1. DirectTV and Hearst need to stop being greedy and agree on something.
    We pay extra to have our local stations in Nebraska. It’s the customer that pays
    for your childless nonsense. Those of us who lost signal are we going to get a
    credit on our account for your selfishness Direct TV?
    We all agree to disagree that’s just life.

  2. Greed is more important than viewer satisfaction I guess !!!!!! This really SUCKS !!!!!!! You can say what you want ….this deal is not hurting Hearst Television….just plain GREED !!!!

  3. Hearst this is ridiculous! We would like to watch KOAT in New Mexico. PLease get your head out of where ever you have it and get back online. If you don’t I will be switching to Dish TV and so will many others I know. What will that do to your pocket??

  4. I am so sick of this dispute between Hearst TV and Directv. You all make plenty of money off of the customers. If I didn’t have cable, I would be getting ABC for free!!!!!!!! Please stop this stupid dispute and resolve this issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Hearst is the most despicable company for television. I filed a complaint with the fcc. Directv pleaded with them to air the channel until negotiations were reached, WPXI (NBC) was obviously able to to reach an agreement very shortly. Will not support any advertisers for Hearst unless they pull their money. They are a greedy, money hungry company that does not care about their viewers.

  5. The ratings for these networks continually decline when there is no football, world series or NCAA tournament coverage. Hearst and Cox are trying to keep their revenue up by forcing more charges on the consumer and hide it by forcing DirecTv and other carriers to raise prices. The world is changing and consumers are moving on-line and moving away from broadcast. The numbers for the carriers are also falling, just like the broadcasters. Both sides have serious financial issues that they can battle over. One thing Cox and Hearst should remember though, as they try to play hardball; when people are denied something, they will find something to replace it. Don’t be so sure they will come back to Cox and Hearst after they have sampled other choices.

    • Well put.

  6. directv should be ashamed. how much money is ever enough?

  7. I pay for NFL sunday ticket and should be able to see these games given that CBS is currently unavailable that is the selling point able to watch all games get it together

  8. If its against the law to rebroadcast the signal of TV stations then we need to change the law. And what about Directv breaking our contract to supply me with local stations… I want them to honor our agreement or at least give me a huge refund.

  9. This is ridiculous! I can’t watch any ABC shows. I usually watch the View during the day,
    sometimes Ellen, and KOAT news at night as well as nightly news with David Muir. Can’t
    watch any of those shows. I live in NM and can’t get the local news station that I like!
    Hurry up and come to some kind of agreement!

  10. Local CBS station in Des Moines (KCCI) has been dark 4 days now. Hearst & DirecTV are both hurting the consumer. Consumers have brains and remember things like this and vote with their wallets. Time for each side to practice “the art of the deal” and put customers (who pay each side’s bills) ahead of the stockholders who ultimately stand to lose.

  11. If I can not receive WESH TV in Ocala, FL, Directv should put on other NBC stations in the Central Florida area. Gainesville has NBC station which is only 40 miles from Ocala, put this station on or Jacksonville, or Tampa NBC affiliates. This does not make any sense to the customers of Directv to deprive them of the loss of NBC.

  12. Play off starts on Saturday as a huge SEAHAWK fan here in Maryland I am super mad because of course it is on NBC channel 11 that of course we can get…

  13. What about our series programs like blacklist, blindspot and Grimm? We all wait for them to come back on after not seeing them for months and this happens. When do we get to see them? I missed the first episode of Quantico last season because the guide was wrong. So frustrating!!! Of course it’s back on today since there is a football game. What about the programs we missed??

  14. I have seen two price increases since AT&T took over DTV in the last few months and now they blame other stations for being as greedy as AT&T is?? Let all locals drop! Let a bunch of other moron stations go as well, oh wait…. AT&T makes money on those.

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