DirecTV, Tegna Point Fingers at Each Other for Blackout

DirecTV and Tegna are blaming one another for a blackout of 66 Tegna stations in 52 metro regions by DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse channel lineups. It started Thursday night with the expiration of their retransmission consent agreement. Backing DirecTV, American TV Alliance said in a statement Friday that the blackout "represents more of the same tired old tactics from TEGNA’s well-worn playbook that come entirely at the expense of American consumers. The FCC and Congress must take a stand and protect consumers." DirecTV said it has offered a la carte pricing where Tegna would set prices for its stations' subscribers but that Tegna is "demanding double-digit annual rate increases that would make it the most expensive broadcaster nationwide." Tegna said that "despite months of effort, DIRECTV has refused to reach a fair, market-based agreement. We urge DIRECTV to continue to negotiate with us until a deal is reached that restores our stations to their customers."