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We work hard to keep you connected to your favorite content. You expect the best for your entertainment dollar and weâre here to help deliver the value and quality you deserve.
We know that you have a lot of choices when it comes to TV service, so we work hard to provide the best experience at a great value. Network costs are the largest part of your TV bill, so we negotiate with Networks to get the channels you want at a fair price â to keep your bill as low as possible. So, what exactly goes into doing this?
We hope you stay because we negotiate on your behalf to give you the Networks you want at
a fair price. Even on those rare occasions when Networks do pull their signal, theyâre usually dark for only a short period of time.
Networks do this to try to get you to switch providers and get us to agree to their demands,
and they do this with every TV provider: there were 8 blackouts in 2010 and that number skyrocketed to 322 in 2023*.
When disputes happen, it can be frustrating but know that weâre always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.
*Includes digital subchannels. © 2024 American Television Alliance. All rights reserved.
November 2023
TEGNA pulled 66 stations when DIRECTV wouldnât cave in to their demands for double-digit annual rate increases that would have made it the most expensive broadcaster nationwide, despite declining viewership.
July 2023
Nexstar cut the signal to 200 stations in 100 cities after DIRECTV refused to pay more than double the fee. The stations were dark for over 2 months.
September 2023
Disney removed 27 networks from 15 million Spectrum customers for about two weeks because Disney was demanding terms that werenât, âfair to Spectrumâs customers.â
July 2023
Hawaiian Telecom customers lost their local stations when Nexstar pulled the signal because HT wouldnât agree to a 70% rate increase.
January 2020
Bally Sports went dark on Fubo for almost three years.
September 2023
DISH customers lost 37 Hearst stations for over two months because DISH wouldnât agree to significantly, “higher rates for the same entertainment and news.â
January 2023
Nexstar pulled the signals to over 30 stations when DISH rejected their âunreasonableâ fees, given that their viewership on had âsignificantly declinedâ.
September 2023
Comcast customers in two cities lost their stations for five weeks because Imagicomm was asking for huge fee hikes.
January 2023
Mission removed 26 television stations from DISH, impacting more than 800,000 customers.
We know that you have a lot of choices when it comes to TV service, so we work hard to provide the best TV experience at a great value. Network costs are the largest part of your TV bill, so we negotiate with Networks to get the channels you want at a fair price â to keep your bill as low as possible. So, what exactly goes into doing this?
A large part of your bill is the ever-increasing fees that the Networks demand to allow you to view their channels, and each channel charges a monthly fee per customer. We negotiate dozens of contracts each year, most of which go smoothly. But sometimes a Network will demand a big increase in its fees, which we think is unfair to you. In these cases, itâs our responsibility to take a stand to help protect you from excessive increases in your monthly bill. This is typically when a Network will black out its channel to try to get you to force us to pay more.
When disputes happen, it can be frustrating but know that weâre always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.