It was widely expected, with the biggest sporting event in the U.S. just hours away from kickoff. At 4:45pm Eastern on Sunday, DirecTV and Cox Media Group resolved their differences over a fresh retransmission consent agreement and came to terms on a multi-year accord.
The new agreement means all of CMG’s television stations will be restored to DirecTV and the U-Verse and DirecTV Stream platforms this evening. Two will be restored ahead of Super Bowl LVIII — including CBS affiliates WHIO-7 in Dayton, Ohio and KIRO-7 in Seattle-Tacoma.
In a statement, DirecTV said, “We will continue to work with broadcasters like CMG, as well as any other programmers, to align the price our customers pay with the value they can expect to receive.”
In a brief statement in a jointly issued press release, DirecTV and CMG said they “greatly appreciate the patience of their subscribers and viewers.”
By law, DirecTV blocked its paid customers from receiving the following CMG stations since February 2, in lieu of a fresh retransmission consent accord:
- Atlanta. GA: WSB – ABC
- Boston, MA: WFXT-FOX
- Charlotte, NC: WSCO-ABC, WAXN=IND
- Dayton, OH: WHIO-CBS
- Eugene, OR: KLSR-FOX, KEVU-MNT
- Jacksonville FL-Brunswick, GA: WFOX-FOX/MNT
- Orlando-Dayton, FL: WFTV-ABC, WRDQ-IND
- Pittsburgh, PA: WPXI-NBC
- Seattle-Tacoma, WA: KIRO-CBS
While CMG operates Hoffman Communications’ WJAX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., a CBS affiliate, it was not involved in the dispute and has its own separate and binding agreement with DirecTV.
The nine-day “blackout” repeats a 2021 scenario between DirecTV and CMG, which lasted five days before a fresh deal — the one that expired on February 2, 2024 — could be reached.
