Late last week, it was feared that the nation’s biggest owner of broadcast television stations would fail to reach a new retransmission consent agreement with a regional MVPD with a formidable presence across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
In fact, the tussle between the two entities prompted the ATVA, a pro-cable TV industry lobby, to assail Nexstar Media Group for being “about to black out” its channels on Verizon FiOS cable services. Nexstar responded, offering RBR+TVBR its thoughts on the matter.
Lo and behold, as the clock struck Midnight on Saturday, a new deal could not be reached. That led Nexstar to come out swinging.
In a statement distributed Saturday afternoon, Nexstar lambasted Verizon FiOS for its “removal” of 13 of its local TV stations in 10 markets, along with its NewsNation cable television news network. It pointed fingers at Verizon FiOS for making viewers “deprived” of “critical national and local news,” important weather updates, and both collegiate and professional football.
“Verizon FiOS is refusing to reach a new distribution agreement allowing the cable company the right to continue airing the highly-rated programming on Nexstar’s local stations,” Nexstar said. “As a result, millions of Americans across the country have lost local news, traffic, weather, sports, and entertainment programming as well as critical, up-to-date news regarding the mid-term elections and possible hurricanes in the South and on the East Coast, as well as college and NFL football this weekend.”
The impacted stations include WPRI-12 in Providence; WSYR-9 in Syracuse; WTEN-10 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy; WIVB-4 in Buffalo; WPHL-17 in Philadelphia; WDCW-50 in Washington, D.C.; WHTM-27 in Harrisburg; WRIC-8 in Richmond; and two stations in Norfolk, WAVY-10 and WVBT “FOX 43.” And, it impacts WPIX-11 in New York, which Nexstar operates via a shared services agreement with licensee Mission Broadcasting.
Then, there is the loss to Verizon FiOS viewers of NewsNation at a critical moment, as the prime-time offering “Cuomo” starring Chris Cuomo is just getting launched.
“Nexstar has been negotiating tirelessly and in good faith in an attempt to reach a mutually agreeable multi-year contract with Verizon FiOS, offering the same fair market rates it offered to other large distribution partners with whom it completed successful negotiations in earlier this year,” the company said, adding that it “routinely reaches amicable retransmission and carriage agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco
partners.”
Don’t tell that to the ATVA, which last week painted Verizon Fios and its customers as the victim. It referred to a January 2020 impasse between Nexstar and Dish, and how another sticky situation came about in December 2020. It also noted how Comcast earlier this year accused Nexstar of violating commitments they had made to the FCC, as well as the FCC’s ownership rules. This involves Mission-owned and Nexstar-run WPIX-11.
In a rebuttal, Nexstar said Saturday that, in the last three years alone, the company has “successfully completed agreements with more than 500 distribution partners.”
Nexstar says it remains hopeful that a resolution can be reached quickly to return to viewers the company’s channels. But, how quickly that transpires remains up to each company’s legal teams — and the signing of a new deal.
That could be today. Or not.
Consumers and viewers affected by the blackout can phone Verizon FiOS at 1-888-553-1555.
