AT&T, Univision in Brief Retrans Cease-fire for Democratic Debate

AT&T said it and Univision reached a brief cease-fire of their retransmission consent dispute, which had resulted in the blackout of the broadcaster on the telco's U-Verse pay-TV service and led to a war of words (see 1603070061 and 1603040063). "We appreciate Univision agreeing to our request earlier today to unblock their channels temporarily during the upcoming Democratic Presidential Debate," AT&T said Tuesday. "We continue working toward an agreement with Univision.” With the debate to be co-hosted by Univision Wednesday, National Hispanic Media Coalition CEO Alex Nogales said last week that the blackout was "a grave injustice to voters looking to be informed." The debate, also sponsored by The Washington Post, "will be available to U-verse customers as part of our commitment to inform and empower our community, especially in this crucial election year," a Univision spokeswoman emailed us Tuesday. Meanwhile, Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., said he worries about the ongoing effects of the AT&T/Univision dispute. “I strongly urge both parties of the negotiation to quickly and responsibly resolve this situation and come to an agreement in order to ensure the Latino community can continue accessing the content they choose at this pivotal time for our country,” said Cardenas, a Commerce Committee member, in a statement Tuesday. “This situation highlights how important it is for the individuals and companies that control our media landscape to maintain a commitment to civic responsibility, particularly to the Latino community. … The timely resolution of this dispute is an issue of public interest.”