The retransmission battle between Scripps and DirecTV has escalated, with 54 local Scripps stations in 36 Nielsen-designated markets going dark as of 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Both sides blamed the other for the blackout, which DirecTV noted comes just before several state and local primary elections in June, as well as the upcoming NBA and NHL finals on ABC, and the U.S. Open golf tournament on NBC.
DirecTV said Scripps “is is demanding the highest rates DIRECTV has ever received from a station group, which would continue to dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses already struggling with affordability. After DirecTV declined those demands and sought a more reasonable agreement, Scripps chose to remove its stations from viewers in several major markets nationwide.”
DirecTV, however, noted that Scripps had just removed 40 stations from Comcast Xfinity in 19 markets for more than a month, starting April 1.
“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. 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.”
Markets impacted by the retrans blackout 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.
In the meantime, DirecTV suggested sports fans access programming via the ESPN app, while Scripps suggested free over-the-air with an antenna, or else Tablo TV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo or “other streaming and cable services.”