DirecTV, Sunbeam make amends

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DirecTV has reached a deal with Miami-based Sunbeam Television, restoring subscriber access to two stations in Boston and one in Miami and ensuring that viewers in Massachusetts will be able to see the Super Bowl. The accord was reached with Sunbeam Television following retransmission fee dispute that blacked out broadcasts this month.


Fox 7 WSVN-TV in Miami was unable to get DirecTV to agree on a retrans package and pulled its station for the satcaster’s local channel lineup earlier in January. However, Sunbeam did allow DirecTV subscribers to catch the NFL playoff game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers regardless, along with pre- and post-game programs and “American Idol.”

Senator John Kerry (D-MA), asked both sides on 1/24 to end the dispute that would have prevented 200,000 subscribers from watching the game.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to end the Sunbeam blackout, and regret that any of our customers were forced into the middle of a business dispute where they should never have been in the first place,” DirecTV said.

“We appreciate our viewers’ patience during this tough negotiation,” Chris Wayland, GM of WHDH-TV and WLVI-TV Boston, said in a statement on the stations’ website.