WASHINGTON—In the runup to what could be another blackout of broadcast TV stations, the American Television Alliance (ATVA) has released a statement complaining that a retransmission dispute between Mission Broadcasting and Verizon might result in two stations being dropped from the Fios lineup next week.

Neither Verizon or Mission has commented publicly on the contract, which will expire on Dec. 15 according to The Desk.

The issue of a potential blackout was first raised by ATVA, which is funded by pay TV groups and counts Verizon as a member.

If an agreement is not reached, Verizon customers in Albany, N.Y. could lose access to Mission's WXXA (Fox) in Albany, N.Y. and WNAC (Fox) in Providence, R.I.

In a statement issued Dec. 10, ATVA attacked Mission for demanding “exorbitant retransmission consent fee increases for programming that is free over the air.”

“Mission Broadcasting is the latest broadcaster to threaten TV blackouts for FOX and CW affiliates in key markets while demanding unjustified retransmission fee hikes that raise costs for American consumers,” said ATVA spokesman Hunter Wilson. “These tactics underscore the urgent need for retransmission consent reform and exemplify how broadcasters exploit disruptions to extract excessive profits, sidelining viewers who rely on affordable access to local stations.”

TV Tech has reached out to Mission for comment.

Tegna-owned TV stations in three markets have gone dark on Verizon’s FiOS TV service as a dispute over retransmission fees continued into the new year. Norfolk, Va. ABC affiliate WVEC, DC CBS affiliate WUSA and Buffalo’s NBC affiliate WGRZ were all pulled from the FiOS lineup on Dec 31, 2018.

In a notice to subscribers, Verizon accused Tegna of proposing a significant rate increase for these stations. “The rising cost of programming is the single biggest factor in higher TV bills, and we are standing up to broadcasters like Tegna in order to protect you from rate increases,” Verizon said. “Rest assured, our goal is to reach a fair agreement that is in your best interest and allows you to continue to have access to the stations you enjoy today.”

In response Tegna said it has “worked hard to reach a fair, market-based agreement with Verizon” adding that it had “successfully reached hundreds of deals with cable and satellite providers across the country with no disruption of service, so we are disappointed we could not reach a deal with Verizon.

“We remain hopeful this will get resolved quickly. However, Verizon customers should know our channels remain available on every other service provider in their community as well as many over-the-top (OTT) providers, who offer instant access when viewers sign up,” Tegna continued. “Our station’s high-quality news, sports, weather and entertainment programming is also available for free over-the-air and viewers can continue watching our newscasts live on our stations’ apps.”

LOS ANGELES—A select group of Verizon employees and customers are getting a sneak peek into the possible future of Verizon Fios, as the company confirmed that it is currently testing “new advanced TV features.” Reports indicate that Verizon is beta-testing an IPTV service and offering subscribers a free year of voice, broadband and TV service for joining the trial.

TVT sister publication Multichannel News has the complete story.

SAN FRANCISCO—The Kudelski Group announced today that its OpenTV, Inc. and Nagra France SAS subsidiaries have filed a patent infringement suit against Verizon Communications Inc. and its subsidiary AOL Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The lawsuit alleges that Verizon and AOL infringe seven U.S. patents owned by OpenTV and Nagra France and identifies the infringing products and services as including Verizon’s FiOS TV services, FiOS TV Everywhere services, Verizon’s Redbox Instant and Go90 video services and AOL’s Spot On advertising and streaming video services.