NewsNation was dropped by DirecTV after the satellite provider couldn’t agree with the network’s parent company Nexstar over a contract extension.
Additionally, more than 150 local TV stations owned by Nexstar have been dropped by DirecTV.
Nexstar is the largest local TV operator in the country and owns a majority stake in The CW network. DirecTV is one of the largest pay-TV operators, boasting over 10 million customers.
“DirecTV and Nexstar were unable to reach a new distribution agreement allowing 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 Oct. 31, 2023,” Nexstar said in a statement.
“Nexstar has been negotiating tirelessly and in good faith in an attempt to reach a mutually agreeable multi-year contract with DirecTV since May, offering the same fair market rates it offered to other distribution partners with whom it completed successful negotiations in the past year. Nexstar routinely reaches amicable retransmission and carriage agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco partners—in the last three years alone, the company has successfully completed agreements with more than 500 distribution partners.”
In response, DirecTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun claimed Nexstar is to blame for the situation.
“Nexstar has a long track record of forcing programming outages in an effort to unnecessarily raise prices,” Thun said. “We will continue to work with Nexstar to reach an agreement and will take all necessary actions to provide our customers access to their favorite programming while protecting them from unwarranted price increases.”
The contract dispute is the latest between DirecTV and a cable news outlet. Earlier this year, the satellite provider underwent a high-profile, contentious negotiation with Newsmax that included some Congressional lawmakers threatening public hearings over the situation. The two sides ultimately reached a new agreement that returned the network back to the platform.
