Menu
We work hard to keep you connected to your favorite channels and shows. You expect the best for your entertainment dollar and we’re 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 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 – 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, they’re 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 165 blackouts in 2018 and that number jumped to over 400 in 2019*.
When disputes happen, it can be frustrating but know that we’re always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.
*Includes digital subchannels. © 2020 S&P Global Market Intelligence. All rights reserved.
January 2020
fuboTV had to drop Disney-owned FOX networks for 7 months due to Disney’s high fees.
January 2020
Hearst blacked out the signals to 34 stations for two days, which they had also done to DIRECTV’s customers for a week in 2017.
January 2020
22 FOX Regional Sports Networks left fuboTV when they couldn’t come to an agreement on rising costs.
January 2018
Hearst cut the signal to their station when this small provider wouldn’t agree to their high fee demands.
March 2017
33 stations were pulled by Hearst for almost 2 months when DISH wouldn’t agree to Hearst’s demands to double their current rates.
September 2019
FOX blacked out many cable networks and 17 stations. FOX is demanding big rate increases and DISH offered an extension but was turned down. “FOX had nothing to lose and consumers had everything to gain by leaving its channels up,” DISH said. “Instead, FOX chose to harm its viewers.”
July 2019
AT&T and DIRECTV customers in 14 markets lost their CBS and The CW signals for 20 days. AT&T referred to CBS as a “repeat blackout offender” who regularly threatens to remove signals to get higher fees.
July 2019
Meredith pulled 17 popular stations for over 2 months, even after DISH offered to keep the channels up while they reached a deal.
July 2019
Nexstar blacked out 120 stations from AT&T and DIRECTV for 8 weeks because AT&T wouldn’t agree to their demands for, “… the largest increase that AT&T has ever seen from any content provider.”
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 – 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, it’s 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 we’re always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.