Outside of New England and the Mid-Atlantic Region, Verizon is mainly known as a mobile phone service provider. However, in this part of the U.S., it is also a major provider of cable television services via its Verizon FiOs brand. It’s a service that has had its fair share of retransmission fee disputes in recent years.
The latest tussle is bubbling over, and the pro-MVPD American Television Alliance is warning consumers that Nexstar Media Group stations in key cities where Verizon FiOs has a footprint could be blocked from its customers soon. Why? The ATVA has its opinion, lashing out once again on a broadcast TV company seeking its fair compensation for some of cable television’s most-consumed channels.
Some 14 stations in 10 markets could be prevented, by law, from reaching Verizon FiOs subscribers once the current carriage agreement between the MVPD and Nexstar, the nation’s largest owner of broadcast TV stations, expires.
The ATVA is the group sharing that information — not Verizon. And, the ATVA as its mouthpiece goes so far as to accuse Nexstar to hold these stations “for ransom” as it is “demanding exorbitant retransmission consent fee increases for programming that is free over the air.”
While broadcast TV stations are free to receive over the air, MVPDs pocket big profits that have largely gone to pad the salaries of their executive leadership team while rewarding shareholders, at the expense of consumers forced to pay the difference.
Asked for comment, a Nexstar spokesperson said, “We can confirm our distribution agreement with Verizon is expiring soon. We are in active discussions on a new agreement.”
Those discussions were assailed by the ATVA, again acting as Verizon’s proxy.
“Nexstar Media Group is currently demanding exorbitant retransmission consent fee hikes, using a potential television blackout as ‘deal leverage,’” said group spokesperson Hunter Wilson. “Clearly, they are more interested in extracting huge profits from pay-TV consumers than giving people the programming they’re already paying for.”
Should there be an impasse, the following stations would go dark on Verizon FiOs:
- WTEN-TV and WXXA-TV in Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- WPRI-TV and WNAC-TV in Providence, R.I.
- WSYR-TV in Syracuse
- WIVB-TV and WNLO-TV in Buffalo-Niagara Falls
- Mission Broadcasting-owned and Nexstar-operated WPIX-11 in New York
- WHTM-TV in Harrisburg-York-Lancaster, Pa.
- WPHL-TV in Philadelphia
- WDCW-TV in Washington, D.C.
- WRIC-TV in Richmond
- WAVY-TV and WVBT-TV in Norfolk
Nexstar’s WDVM-TV in Washington, D.C., is not impacted.
While a deadline “approaches,” neither party stated as to when the current deal will conclude. If history offers any clue, it could be the end of this week.
As RBR+TVBR reported in October 2022, a two-week standoff between Nexstar and Verizon FiOS ended on the 28th of that month. That dispute also saw the ATVA use a megaphone of its own to spout its views on a thorny issue that has yet to find a Congressional resolution.
