DirecTV Loses TEGNA Stations, Wants to Overturn Retrans Regime

DirecTV’s looking to change the model for broadcasters’ retransmission consent through its negotiations with TEGNA, proposing broadcasters offer stations a la carte to customers or let MVPDs negotiate directly with ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC for national network content. DirecTV lost access to 64 TEGNA stations at 8pm ET Thursday when its current retrans contract with the broadcaster expired.

While DirecTV said the broadcaster is making unreasonable rate demands, TEGNA blamed the impasse on the MVPD. “Despite months of effort, DirecTV has refused to reach a fair, market-based agreement with TEGNA,” the broadcaster said in a statement. “As a result, DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse customers will lose access to NFL and college football conference championship games, as well as some of the most popular national network programming and top-rated local news. We urge DirecTV to continue to negotiate with us until a deal is reached that restores our stations to their customers.”

Following Charter’s successful push for a new programming contract model in its dispute with Disney earlier this year, DirecTV is hoping to carve out a new path forward for broadcast group retransmission talks. Under its a la carte proposal, broadcasters could set their rate for consumers, allowing them to personalize their video subscriptions by choosing which stations they pay for. DirecTV argues that broadcasters have already set the stage for this approach by embracing the a la carte model by allowing their full station streams to be sold through direct-to-consumer network apps. In fact, of those 64 TEGNA stations that are blacked out, the majority are NBC (21) and CBS (16), which stream top live events in real time on Peacock and Paramount+. Only five of the blacked out stations are FOX affiliates, which have more limited streaming options.

TEGNA said DirecTV’s a la carte proposal requires its customers to “pay another standalone fee for our local stations–unlike all other broadcast stations–disserves subscribers and is not productive.” The broadcaster said it is focused on reaching a mutually beneficial agreement. “We have been working for months to find common ground with DirecTV. Unfortunately, although TEGNA has made significant moves to narrow the gap between our positions, we have not seen a reciprocal effort on DirecTV’s part,” said a TEGNA statement. “Still, we remain available and ready to work around the clock to reach a deal when DIRECTV is ready to bargain seriously.”

The alternative proposal for negotiations with the Big 4 would “eliminate [the] unnecessary middleman,” according to a PowerPoint by DirecTV. Those middlemen are broadcasters such as TEGNA, Nexstar, Sinclair, who argue they provide valuable local news, weather and emergency content. DirecTV contends that broadcast station groups fear the loss of network affiliations more than disputes with distributors and have shown little interest in pushing back on reverse retrans fees.  

Both pitches seem like long shots, with broadcasters long having a powerful lobbying arm in Washington. Perhaps the proposals are more of an effort to get lawmakers thinking about the impact of streaming, reverse retrans and some of the issues with the current retrans regime.

Don’t count on DirecTV backing down from TEGNA stations being dark for a period of time. It’s already shown a willingness to go into a protracted dispute with its recent 2.5-month blackout with Nexstar. DirecTV claims the broadcaster is seeking higher fees than any in the hundreds of deals in has across its 198 DMAs. TEGNA counters that it has reached fair-market deals with hundreds of pay-TV providers over the past several years.