A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon’s Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance blasting the station group’s demands for what ATA called "exorbitant" price increases.
Gary Weitman, executive vice president and chief communications officer at Nexstar Media Group told TV Tech that "we can confirm our distribution agreement with Verizon is expiring soon. We are in active discussions on a new agreement.” He declined to respond further to the ATA and Verizon statements.
If a deal is not reached when the current agreement expires on October 24, customers could lose access to 14 stations in 10 markets, including ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates carrying high profile sports, and the NewsNation cable channel.
In a note posted on its website, Verizon said that “We are currently in negotiations to reach a fair and reasonable agreement on your behalf so we can continue to offer these channels to you. Unfortunately, we simply cannot agree to the significant price increases they have asked for to date. In the event we are unable to reach an agreement by October 24, 2025, you may lose access to these channels on Fios TV. The rising cost of programming is the single biggest factor in higher TV bills and we are fighting to keep prices reasonable for you.”
In a separate statement issued on October 22, the ATA blasted Nexstar’s demands for what it called “exorbitant retransmission consent fee hikes” and called for regulatory reform to prevent blackouts and price hikes for pay TV customers.
“As families and friends gather to watch Sunday Football, Big Broadcasters are preparing to pull the plug on thousands of pay-TV customers. Rather than watching local news, sports and weather, consumers may soon see a black screen,” said ATVA spokesman Hunter Wilson. “Nexstar Media Group is currently demanding exorbitant retransmission consent fee hikes, using a potential television blackout as ‘deal leverage.’ Clearly, they are more interested in extracting huge profits from pay-TV consumers than giving people the programming they’re already paying for.”
The ATA said the TV blackout could impact Verizon customers in Providence, R.I., Albany, N.Y., Buffalo, N.Y., Syracuse, N.Y., New York, N.Y., Harrisburg, Pa., Philadelphia, Pa., Washington, D.C., Richmond, Va., and Norfolk, Va., jeopardizing their access to regular programs, news and sporting events, including upcoming NFL games such as the Kansas City Chiefs at the Buffalo Bills (CBS Buffalo) and the Atlanta Falcons at the New England Patriots (CBS Providence).
The ATA also noted that “Big Broadcasters have levied more than 2,400 TV blackouts and increased retransmission consent fees by an overwhelming 2,000 percent since 2010. American consumers continue to pay the price for outdated regulations, allowing broadcasters to continuously weaponize TV blackouts, deliberately targeting live sports and other must-see TV.”
Verizon said that failure to reach an agreement may impact the following channels:
- WAVY (Norfolk): NBC, The Nest, getTV, Defy TV
- WDCW (D.C.): CW, Antenna TV
- WDVM (D.C.): DC News Now, ION Mystery, Rewind TV, ShopLC
- WHTM (Harrisburg): ABC, Grit, Laff
- WIVB (Buffalo): CBS
- WNLO (Buffalo): CW, Rewind TV
- WPHL (Philadelphia): CW, Antenna TV/MyNetwork, Grit, Comet
- WPIX (New York): CW, Antenna TV, Rewind TV
- WPRI (Providence): CBS, MyNetwork, True Crime Network, Defy TV
- WRIC (Richmond): ABC, Rewind TV, COZI TV, Laff
- WSYR (Syracuse): ABC, Antenna TV, Bounce TV
- WTEN (Albany): ABC, COZI TV, Antenna TV, ION Mystery
- WTNH (Greenwich): ABC
- WVBT (Norfolk): FOX, CW, Rewind TV, COZI TV
- NewsNation
