On December 16, 2020, concerned Comcast customers who receive broadcast TV stations through Xfinity in one Massachusetts county breathed a sigh of relief. There, Hearst Television‘s biggest station, ABC affiliate WCVB-5 in Boston, was set to be replaced with a Rhode Island ABC affiliate. Among those offering words of frustration: Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.
It appeared that a fresh retransmission consent arrangement keeping Hearst stations from “neighboring designated market areas” where citizens desired the station more than a closer, albeit out of state, choice was reached.
Now, Comcast has confirmed that “some TV stations” from neighboring markets will “soon no longer be available.”