NewsNation has returned to DirecTV after an agreement was struck between the cable channel and the satellite television provider.
“DirecTV and Nexstar Media Group, Inc. have officially reached a comprehensive new multi-year distribution agreement covering 176 Nexstar-owned local television stations and the company’s national cable news network, NewsNation. This follows the return of the television stations and NewsNation to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-verse on the morning of Sept. 17,” a joint statement from the companies reads.
Nexstar Media Group, the parent company of NewsNation, had all of its channels — including 176 local stations — removed from the satellite provider in early July during a carriage dispute.
Since the dispute began, NewsNation has beefed up its news operations. It has moved to a strictly-news format. Previously, the channel had featured re-runs of CBS police drama Blue Bloods, among other non-news programming. The network has added anchors like Connell McShane, Blake Burman, Amy Robach, and Emily Finn, among others, to grow its news programming.
The dispute was not the first to remove a cable news channel from the satellite service. Earlier this year, Newsmax and DirecTV were locked in a hotly contested dispute. Each company take shots at the other. The dispute even led members of Congress to threaten hearings to investigate DirecTV’s conduct in a supposed plot to “silence conservative voices”. However, an eventual deal was struck that returned the conservative channel to the DirecTV lineup.
