Overview
- The E. W. Scripps Company and DIRECTV announced a multi-year carriage agreement late Friday, July 10, that returned 54 Scripps-owned local stations to DIRECTV satellite, streaming, and U-verse customers effective immediately.
- The blackout had lasted five weeks and cut service in roughly 36 Nielsen DMAs, affecting millions of subscribers in cities including Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Buffalo, Nashville, and Salt Lake City.
- DIRECTV said Scripps had sought what it called record retransmission consent rate increases and criticized growing broadcaster consolidation for skewing negotiations, while Scripps issued a statement thanking viewers for their patience.
- Viewers lost access to local news, weather alerts, and major live events during the outage, prompting frustration and temporary workarounds for people trying to follow civic and sports coverage.
- The dispute highlights how the retransmission consent system gives station owners negotiating power that can raise pay-TV costs and could renew interest in changes to how local broadcast carriage and fees are regulated.