The local Nexstar stations, CBS affiliate WIVB-TV (Channel 4) and CW affiliate WNLO-TV (CW 23) are off DirecTV in a dispute between the TV company and the satellite carrier.
As usual, the two sides are blaming each other.
WIVB and WNLO are running crawls blaming DirecTV for pulling the stations off the air.
The station’s website claims the stations have been “forced off your lineup and important programing you pay for has disappeared” and suggests that subscribers to the satellite service change their providers or ask for a rebate.
Meanwhile, a DirecTV spokesperson says it is prohibited by law from airing Nexstar stations across the country after the expiration of its contract.
DirecTV adds Nexstar “is seeking to more than double the rate that DirecTV viewers currently pay for its programming.”
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It is a national, not a local issue, affecting more than 200 Nexstar stations. CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and CW stations are affected as is the cable channel NewsNation.
The dispute is not something new to Western New Yorkers. In October, WIVB and WNLO were taken off Verizon Fios because of a similar retransmission dispute that lasted several days.
That suggests that changing carriers isn’t the answer. Any switch likely eventually will lead to a new dispute between Nexstar and your new carrier.
As usual, I suggest you root for the carrier instead of the station owner because the additional money DirecTV has to pay will likely filter down to the consumer.
There doesn’t seem to be as much pressure to make a deal now as there was in October during the Buffalo Bills season.
In addition, the networks are in the summer doldrums of airing reality shows and repeats.
However, there is a new wrinkle since October: The Nexstar stations stopped airing its newscasts live on its website or app in January. It carries the newscasts two hours later.
According to sources at the time, Nexstar’s decision to stop livestreaming apparently was largely to protect the amount of money it receives in retransmission fees from cable companies, satellite providers and other ways to carry their stations.
The previous ability for viewers to stream local newscasts may have reduced the leverage that station groups have had on the companies paying retransmission fees during carriage disputes.
During previous local retransmission standoffs, many people were still able to watch local affiliates over the air or stream them live even if they couldn’t get them on cable or satellite providers.
During the Nexstar retransmission dispute with Fios, viewers could stream the newscasts live anyway on the station’s website or on Paramount+ if they subscribed to that streaming service that carries CBS programs.
CBS programs, Channel 4’s newscasts and syndicated programs like “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” still can be streamed live on Paramount+ because Nexstar has a separate retransmission deal with that paid service.
