Our short regional nightmare is over. Just a couple of weeks after broadcaster Tegna’s 64 stations went dark in 51 markets across the country on both DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse, the stations have returned and this latest carrier dispute is now over.
64 TEGNA broadcast stations returned to AT&T Uverse and DirecTV today, including NFL markets in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Phoenix. Those stations went dark Dec. 1.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) December 20, 2020
The dispute had affected Tegna stations all across the country, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington. For the last few weeks, subscribers on AT&T’s satellite TV service, as well as AT&T U-verse and the AT&T TV streaming service, were unable to watch programming.
The dispute had a direct impact on sports fans in several markets. New Orleans viewers missed out on the big Alabama-LSU game because the local CBS affiliate is a Tegna station. Tegna also owns the NBC affiliate in Denver, which impacted Broncos fans who wanted to watch their team play (for some reason) on a Sunday night. The CBS affiliate in Houston is a Tegna station, which impacted local Texans fans wanting to watch their favorite NFL team. Certainly, there was plenty of other college football and NFL fans affected by the lack of station availability as well.
GOOD NEWS! We signed a new deal with TEGNA. All TEGNA local stations are returning today to AT&T homes. We want to thank our customers for their patience. https://t.co/JakpPhKjle
— DIRECTV (@DIRECTV) December 20, 2020
No terms from the new multi-year agreement were made public. The two sides released a joint statement saying “AT&T and TEGNA regret any inconvenience to their customers and viewers and thank them for their patience.”
To our DIRECTV and AT&T U-Verse customers: TEGNA has reached a multi-year agreement with AT&T. All TEGNA stations will be returned to the DIRECTV and AT&T U-Verse lineups very shortly. We are grateful for your patience and are proud to be serving you again.
— TEGNA (@TEGNA) December 20, 2020
