WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Report and Order requiring cable and satellite pay TV operators to report commercial broadcast station blackouts that last than 24 hours or longer and were caused by failed negotiations over a new retransmission-consent agreement.

“This reporting will fill a basic information gap in the Commission’s awareness of such blackouts, ensuring that the Commission receives prompt and accurate information about critical multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) service disruptions involving broadcast stations when they occur,” the FCC explained in the order. “In addition, the creation of a centralized, Commission-hosted database of basic blackout information will increase transparency around the frequency and duration of broadcast station blackouts for the public.”

The FCC began looking into measures to address problems caused by the blackouts and to require reporting of them in 2023, following a number of high-profile spats over retransmission consent fees. In its recently released 2024 Communications Market Report, the FCC reported that “From 2022 to 2023, annual retransmission consent fees paid per subscriber increased, on average, by 16.2%, rising from $231.52 to $268.99. Average monthly retransmission consent fees per subscriber per broadcast station increased by 19%, increasing from $2.27 to $2.70 over the same period. Over the period 2013-2023, the compound average annual increase in fees per subscriber was 27.3%.”

In a period of sluggish or stagnant core TV advertising revenue excluding political advertising, retransmission consent fees has emerged as one of the largest sources of income by broadcast station groups.

The National Association of Broadcasters has consistently opposed the idea saying it would not help consumers or the FCC. “Given the Commission’s very limited role and its inability to use information on negotiating impasses to require parties to take any additional steps, it is not clear what lawful purpose this information gathering effort can serve, from the Commission’s standpoint," the NAB said in a October 2024 letter to the FCC.

The idea was also opposed by operators who argued it would impose difficult regulatory burdens, particularly on smaller operators.

In adopting the Order on Dec. 31 and releasing it on Jan. 3, the FCC noted that “While the Commission cannot prohibit a blackout from occurring, it can enforce broadcasters’ and MVPDs’ statutory duties around negotiation” via its rules regarding ‘Good Faith’ negotiations.”

“Despite the Commission’s good faith rules and complaint process, our experience suggests that cable and satellite TV subscribers are increasingly experiencing blackouts of broadcast station channels on their video service while at the same time retransmission consent fees have been consistently rising,” the FCC said in the report.

The report also complained that the FCC “does not usually learn of broadcast station blackouts from good faith complaints, but rather through news reports in the media or informal communication with Commission staff. This ad hoc process does not always provide timely or specific information regarding service disruptions.”

In its Report and Order, the FCC modified its initial reporting requirements to give operators two business days to report blackouts and require them only to make good faith estimates of the subscribers impacted. Operators can specify that subscriber counts be kept confidential.

The full Report and Order can be found here, along with a more detailed discussion of the rules and the portal for reporting blackouts.

DirecTV and Cox Media Group ended their carriage dispute just in time for Super Bowl LVIII when the two announced a new multi-year retransmission consent agreement.

The impasse started Feb. 2, after their previous agreement had expired, prompting Cox to pull its 12 stations from DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse in nine cities. 

The announcement, made on Super Bowl Sunday, meant that all of the stations—in in particular, CBS stations in Dayton, Ohio and Seattle—were restored immediately just in time for TV’s biggest annual event. 

“We will continue to work with broadcasters like CMG, as well as any other programmers, to align the price our customers pay with the value they can expect to receive,” DirecTV said in a statement. “DirecTV and CMG greatly appreciate the patience of their subscribers and viewers.”

Here are the specific stations and cities where CMG stations were restored:

• Atlanta: WSB – ABC
• Boston: WFXT-FOX
• Charlotte, NC: WSCO-ABC, WAXN-IND
• Dayton, OH: WHIO-CBS
• Eugene, OR: KLSR-FOX, KEVU-MNT
• Jacksonville FL-Brunswick, GA: WFOX-FOX/MNT
• Orlando-Dayton, FL: WFTV-ABC, WRDQ-IND
• Pittsburgh: WPXI-NBC
• Seattle-Tacoma: KIRO-CBS

ATLANTA—With the expiration of their two-year retransmission agreement looming, Cox Media Group took its first swipe against DirecTV, accusing the satellite TV provider that its “anti-consumer” practices are a threat to local journalism.

The carriage agreement between DirecTV and CMG expires Feb. 2 and if it’s anything like the last kerfuffle between them two years ago, the agreement is expected to lapse, resulting in  the same pressures that forced the two to reach an agreement within just days of Super Bowl LV. 

“DirecTV’s anti-consumer practice of repetitive, extended station drops is typical of DrecTV—they dropped hundreds of other local stations over just the past few months,” the company said.

“CMG is proud of our commitment to investing in best-in-class local news and investigative journalism,” said Marian Pittman, EVP of CMG. “We’re dismayed that DirecTV is trying to force a deal that would harm local journalism and broadcast stations. This hurts consumers who rely on our high-quality local news, weather, and entertainment programming.”

CMG said the satellite company’s strategy could threaten the viability of local journalism “at a time when broadcast TV stations are often the last source of local news, emergency information, and consumer protection left in their communities,” adding that CMG’s stations are consistently the most popular channels on DirecTV’s lineup.

If the carriage agreement expires, more than 1 million households could lose their access to CMG stations. Cox Media Group owns, operates or provides sales and marketing services to 50 stations in 10 markets. 

“Our request of DirecTV is simple,” Pittman added. “Don’t rob your customers of their access to the important news, sports and entertainment programming they need and want.”

This is the second such carriage dispute between broadcasters and DirecTV in the last month. Earlier, Tegna reached a multi-year agreement with DirecTV after its stations were pulled from the satellite provider's lineup for a month and a half.

In response, a DirecTV spokesperson said: "We are working with Cox Media Group to reach a new agreement that will align the value and quality customers receive with the price they pay. Our request to Cox Media Group is simple, don’t force your viewers who are our customers, to pay an unwarranted rate increase for ‘free’ news, sports and entertainment that is widely available on local station websites, through an over-the-air digital antenna and direct-to-consumer streaming platforms." 

CMG is currently in an ongoing retransmission dispute with Dish. That unresolved dispute led to 13 CMG stations being taken off Dish in late November of 2022. 

Mission Broadcasting and Dish Network have announced a comprehensive, multiyear distribution agreement that will return 27 Mission television stations in 25 markets to the satellite pay TV service. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. 

The stations—which are owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting and operated by Nexstar—were removed from Dish in January 2023 when the two sides could not reach a new retransmission agreement. Mission said it “regrets the inconvenience experienced by its viewers and thanks them for their patience.”

Dennis Thatcher, President of Mission Broadcasting remarked: "We are delighted to have reached a new distribution agreement with Dish Network, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship."

The FCC is seeking public comment on whether the commission should require cable and satellite pay-TV providers to refund subscribers who face programming blackouts on their cable or satellite television subscription. 

In its “Customer Rebates for Undelivered Video Programming During Blackouts” NPRM, the FCC took note of the increasing rate of local TV station blackouts between station groups and pay-TV providers. The release of the NPRM is the second of two proposals targeting blackouts FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel previewed last fall; the first proposal targeting reporting rules for blackouts was dropped late last year. 

While blackouts have increased in frequency over the years, they get more notice during the NFL season, and in particular the playoffs—now in full swing—so announcing such a proposal now is more likely to get attention.

“Over the past decade, subscribers have faced an increasing number of programming blackouts because their cable operators and satellite television providers have failed to reach “retransmission consent” agreements for carriage of local broadcast stations with the licensees of those stations,” the commission said in a statement. “Even though those subscribers lose access to video programming that they expect to receive, they do not always receive a rebate for the loss of service.  The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on whether and how to require cable and satellite providers to issue rebates to subscribers in the event of a blackout.” 

Rosenworcel added her two cents:

“When viewers lose the ability to watch the local news, their favorite show or sports team on their cable or satellite service because of a retransmission blackout, they are not getting what they paid for,” she said. “And that’s not right. That’s why we’re starting a conversation about the best way to ensure that when viewers turn on that screen, they get what they pay for.”

The proposal got some pushback from Republicans on the commission, including Nathan Simington who said the proposal creates "zero consumer welfare," noting that many consumers aren't even aware when blackouts occur or when they're resolved and that, in many cases rebate amounts would be so small, it's not worth the bureaucracy it would take to impose such a policy.

"Is the consumer who may not have even noticed the blackout made whole, or do they get a couple of bucks' worth of credit on their next bill that they didn't anticipate, don't understand, and may call about?" Simington mused. "And does the sports fan who was deeply impacted and personally offended by the blackout feel satisfied with a rebate that gives him change back from a Costco hot dog? (And, recall, this is more than consumers are likely to get for a time increment like this once this scheme is implemented.) "

"And yet this will be the new normal as it relates to blackout rebates: a confusing, yet fairly distributed, pittance that costs money to administer, creates consumer confusion, and makes literally not one consumer psychologically whole—at the expense, to be clear, of marginally higher MVPD costs driven by marginally higher retransmission consent rates that I have every reason to expect will swamp whatever consumer welfare could have even arguably been contained in this item."

Pay-TV advocate American Television Alliance issued a statement, noting that 200 blackouts occurred in 2023 alone and criticizing broadcasters' "greed," that has seen retrans fees increase by "1,529%" since 2010. 

“Every single service disruption involving broadcast stations occurs because broadcasters want consumers to pay more money and cable and satellite providers want consumers to pay less money,” said ATVA spokesperson Cora Mandy. “So, in proposing to require cable and satellite companies to offer refunds when they refuse to meet broadcasters' outrageous pricing demands, the FCC seeks to punish the wrong set of parties. In doing so, it will cause higher bills for the consumers it hopes to protect.”   

This proposal is the latest consumer protection effort from the FCC under Chairwoman Rosenworcel. In addition to its NPRM on new rules on reporting station blackouts, the commission and has also proposed requiring “all-in” pricing information in cable and satellite billing and promotional materials, and limiting junk fees—like early termination fees—on cable and satellite services.

Specifically, the FCC wants feedback on how cable and satellite pay-TV providers currently handle blackouts and what methodology to calculate the rebate amount, and perhaps most importantly, whether the FCC has the authority to impose such blackout rules on cable and satellite TV. This could perhaps provide a preview of how such authority could be expanded to cover so-called “virtual” MVPDs like Hulu+ Live, Sling TV and Youtube TV, services that mimic pay-TV packages but are currently exempt from retransmission rules. 

DirecTV and Tegna have announced that they have reached a new long term distribution agreement, ending a blackout that lasted six weeks. 

The new multiyear distribution agreement covering Tegna’s 64 owned stations in 51 DMAS returned to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse on Saturday, Jan. 13, just in time for the NFL Playoffs. 

Tegna stations were pulled from DirecTV Nov. 30 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new retrans agreement.

“DirecTV and Tegna greatly appreciate the patience of their subscribers and viewers,” the two said in a joint statement.

Financial terms were not made public. 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Network has reached a new multiyear carriage agreement with Hearst Television, Inc., ending a blackout of the Hearst-owned stations that began on September 8.  

“We’re pleased to have reached a long-term agreement that benefits all parties and most importantly, our customers,” said Gary Schanman, executive vice president and group president, video services, Dish Network. “Thank you to our customers for your patience and understanding as we worked through the negotiations.”

The blackout had impacted Dish customers' access to 37 local channels in 27 markets. 

The new deal, which was announced on Nov. 10, restores: Alburqueque, NM (KOAT), Baltimore, MD (WBAL), Birmingham, AL (WVTM), Boston, MA (WCVB & WMUR), Burlington, VT (WNNE & WPTZ),Cincinnati, OH (WLWT), Des Moines, IA (KCCI), Fort Myers, FL (WBBH), Fort Smith, AR (KHBS & KHBSD & KHOG), Greensboro, NC (WCWG & WXII), Greenville, SC (WYFF), Harrisburg, PA (WGAL), Jackson, MS (WAPT), Kansas City, MO (KCWE & KMBC), Louisville, KY (WLKY), Milwaukee, WI (WISN), Monterey, CA (KSBW & KSBWD), New Orleans, LA (WDSU), Oklahoma City, OK (KOCO), Omaha, NE (KETV), Orlando, FL (WESH & WKCF), Pittsburgh, PA (WTAE), Portland, ME (WMTW & WPXT), Sacramento, CA (KCRA & KQCA), Savannah, GA (WJCL), Tampa, FL (WMOR), West Palm Beach, FL (WPBF).

ATLANTA—Cox Media Group announced today it has reached a long-term carriage agreement with Verizon Fios TV. Although final terms were not disclosed, the agreement retains channels WFXT FOX in Boston and Rhode Island, WPXI NBC in Pittsburgh, and PCNC (Pittsburgh Cable News Channel) in Pittsburgh on the Fios TVlineup. 

CMG said, “This deal with Verizon, consistent with our long history of carriage agreements, reflects the value of our market-leading stations and commitment to delivering vital and award-winning news and entertainment programming. We’re pleased to have reached this renewal before our prior deal expired, exemplifying our commitment to reaching timely and fair-market agreements with partners that negotiate in good faith.” 

Last weekend, Verizon warned  viewers of those channels that while the two companies were continuing to negotiate a new carriage agreement, those channels could be dropped if an agreement had not been reached by the deadline, Dec. 15. 

Cox is in a continuing dispute with Dish over a lapsed carriage agreement—13 of its stations in nine markets were pulled from the satellite provider’s lineup on Nov. 28 and have yet to return.

WASHINGTON—Though not yet through the halfway point of the year, the American Television Alliance has reported that so far for 2019 there has been 62 station blackouts for the U.S. video marketplace. This has been a consistent trend in recent years, as ATVA says that there have been nearly 550 blackouts in the last three and a half years, with an average of more than 12 a month.

On May 30, seven small station groups owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group went dark on AT&T’s DirecTV, DirecTV Now and U-Verse in 14 cities. The stations are Deerfield Media, MPS Media, GoCom Media of Illinois, Howard Stirk Holdings, Roberts Media, Second Generation of Iowa and Waitt Broadcasting.

“The video marketplace keeps changing, but the TV blackout crisis and retrans racket that hurts consumers stays the same,” said Trent Duffy, ATVA spokesman. “In this case, one of America’s biggest broadcasters is making a mockery of station ownership restrictions by unduly controlling what ‘independent’ broadcasters are doing.”

Congress is currently considering the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act. ATVA supports the reauthorization of STELAR, saying that up to 870,000 satellite subscribers could lose access to broadcast channels if it is not renewed.

“Congress should not only re-authorize STELAR so rural America can continue receiving all their broadcast channels, but also modernize the retransmission consent rules, which currently favor broadcasters at the expense of consumers and competition,” said Duffy.