Certain NBC local affiliates have been blacked out on DirecTV since November 2023 because of a carriage dispute between DirecTV and broadcast company Tegna, which owns 64 television stations in 51 markets across the U.S. including several local NBC affiliates.

A carriage dispute between a content provider (like Tegna) and a distributor (like DirecTV) typically revolves around the fees that the distributor pays to the content provider to carry their channels. DirecTV pays carriage fees to channel owners like Tegna for the right to broadcast their channels. The fees are a significant revenue source for channel owners and a large cost item for distributors. Broadcasters like Tegna use the threat of pulling channels to negotiate higher fees, while providers like DirecTV aim to keep costs down to offer competitive subscription rates.

Tegna likely wants higher fees for their channels, which DirecTV might find too expensive or unreasonable. As a result of this dispute, dozens of local TV stations owned by Tegna went dark on DirecTV. This means subscribers of DirecTV in certain areas lost access to these channels. Many of these channels were affiliates of NBC or CBS, which means that viewers in certain regions can’t watch popular shows, local news, and other programming typically available on these networks.

Subscribers of DirecTV in affected areas lost access to local programming, which can be crucial for local news, weather updates, and emergency information.

Negotiations are ongoing and should resolve but it’s not possible to predict for sure if some or all of the local NBC affiliates will return to DirecTV and when that might happen. Carriage disputes are not at all uncommon. A dispute between Charter Communications and Disney over the summer of 2023 resulted in blackouts of several channels for more than a week with only some of the Disney lineup returning. In this case, some Charter Communications customers had their bills lowered slightly as an accommodation. Overall, some content providers like Disney have developed their own pay-to-watch streaming apps and are moving their best content to their own streaming services. This means viewers who want to watch the special content pay an additional fee on top of their regular TV service. There is pressure from all sides in the TV broadcast industry making for a fluid and evolving landscape.