The conflict between Scripps and DirecTV over retransmission has escalated: as of 7 p.m. ET Sunday, 54 local Scripps stations in 36 Nielsen-defined areas were off the air.
Both sides blamed each other for the blackout, which DirecTV noted occurred just before several state and local primaries in June, as well as the upcoming NBA and NHL Finals on ABC and the US Open golf tournament on NBC.
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DirecTV stated that Scripps "is demanding the highest rates DIRECTV has ever received from a group of television stations, which will further dramatically increase costs for consumers and businesses already struggling to pay. After DirecTV rejected these demands and attempted to reach a more reasonable agreement, Scripps decided to take its channels off the air in several major cities across the country.".
However, Scripps stated that it "negotiated in good faith with DirecTV to reach a fair agreement that would serve the interests of both companies and, most importantly, consumers. Unfortunately, DirecTV chose to remove Scripps' local stations from its network using the same heavy-handed tactics that have become synonymous with pay-TV operators who harm their subscribers by using them as bargaining chips in contractual disputes. In contrast, Scripps' stations have only gone off the air twice since they began broadcasting in the 1940s.".
However, DirecTV noted that Scripps just pulled 40 stations from Comcast Xfinity in 19 markets for more than a month, starting April 1.
«"We understand that customers are upset about the temporary loss of access to Scripps stations, the local news, network programming, and live sports they provide," said Rob Toon, DirecTV's chief content officer. "Unfortunately, Scripps is charging the highest rates we've ever seen for programming that remains available free over the air and through numerous streaming apps, from stations, networks, and third-party providers. We remain committed to protecting customers from unreasonable and unjustified price increases for less popular programming while working to restore service to the stations that many viewers rely on.".
However, in its statement, Scripps noted: "Scripps remains committed to achieving a fair resolution that will restore access to our local television channels to DirecTV's paying subscribers. At stake is our viewers' fundamental access to trusted local journalism, important weather alerts, breaking news, and live sports that strengthen community ties—all public-interest content in which Scripps invests heavily every day.".
The outage affected, among others, 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.
Meanwhile, DirecTV offered sports fans access to programming through the ESPN app, and Scripps for free over-the-air with an antenna, or through Tablo TV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, or "other streaming and cable services.".
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