NASHVILLE — Just as the 6pm hour began in Middle Tennessee on Sunday, large groups of viewers to “NewsChannel 5” expecting to see “60 Minutes” were unable to do so. Access to the CBS affiliate, WTVF-TV, had just been obstructed to those who receive local broadcast channels via DirecTV.
WTVF is one of 54 stations across 36 DMAs no longer accessible to DirecTV customers, and it is thanks to the latest retransmission consent negotiation breakdown to involve the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service and one of the nation’s largest owners of over-the-air stations: The E.W. Scripps Co.
Within minutes of the “blackout,” by law, each side was blaming the other as a bitter war of words commenced.
