Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, DIRECTV removed from its satellite, cable, and streaming systems the network and local community programming provided to more than ten million of its subscribers by 159 local television stations owned by Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) (“Nexstar”). The disruption in service affects DIRECTV, Uverse and DIRECTV Stream subscribers. DIRECTV and Nexstar were unable to reach a new distribution agreement allowing the DIRECTV the right to continue airing the highly-rated programming on Nexstar’s local stations. In addition, DIRECTV rejected Nexstar’s offer to extend the current distribution agreement to October 31, 2023.
As a result, millions of Americans across the country have lost their access to local news, traffic, weather, sports, and entertainment programming, critical updates regarding summer storms and tornadoes, as well as the upcoming battle in soccer for the Women’s World Cup, and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
DIRECTV and Nexstar were also unable to reach an agreement to allow DIRECTV the right to continue carrying Nexstar’s national cable news network, NewsNation. Millions of DIRECTV subscribers have lost access to the news and analysis of such shows as “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” “Cuomo,” “Dan Abrams Live,” and “Banfield.”
