The potential effects of multiple disputes with AT&T/DirecTV at the same time

[ftballfan]

If Sinclair were to get taken off AT&T/DirecTV before Nexstar and Northwest stations return, there would be few unscathed markets, with most of those being top 20 or bottom 40 markets (some very small markets don't have local channels through DirecTV). I decided to make this a separate thread than the general programming dispute thread due to the major ramifications.

Markets that would be unaffected completely
Anchorage, Atlanta, Bangor, Bend, Biloxi/Gulfport, Boston/Manchester, Bowling Green, Casper/Riverton, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Cheyenne/Scottsbluff, Chicago, Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Columbus/Tupelo/West Point, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Duluth/Superior, Fairbanks, Fargo/Valley City, Fort Myers/Naples, Great Falls, Harrisonburg, Helena, Houston, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Juneau, Kansas City, Lafayette IN, Lake Charles, Laredo, Lima, Los Angeles, Louisville, Mankato, Meridian, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Monterey/Salinas, Montgomery/Selma, New Orleans, New York, Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, Palm Springs, Parkersburg, Philadelphia, Presque Isle, Rochester/Mason City/Austin, Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Saint Joseph, Salisbury/Ocean City, San Diego, Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo, Sherman/Ada, Tucson/Sierra Vista, Twin Falls, Victoria, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wilmington

Markets affected by OOM default affiliates (i.e. a market that doesn't have its own NBC but the default NBC is owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, or Northwest)
Alpena (NBC), Glendive (ABC/FOX), Zanesville (ABC/CW/FOX/MNT)

Markets that would only lose (or have only lost) a CW or MNT affiliate
Indianapolis (CW/MNT), Milwaukee (CW/MNT), Minneapolis/Saint Paul (CW), Phoenix/Prescott (CW), San Francisco (MNT)

Markets that would lose both CBS and FOX (important as they hold the NFL rights)
Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Bakersfield, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Iowa City/Dubuque, Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, Charleston WV/Huntington, El Paso/Las Cruces, Eureka, Fresno/Visalia, Grand Junction/Montrose, Green Bay/Appleton, Greenville/New Bern/Washington, Greenwood/Greenville, Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Medford/Klamath Falls, Peoria/Bloomington, Portland/Auburn, Providence/New Bedford, Rochester NY, South Bend/Elkhart, Springfield MO, Syracuse, Tri-Cities TN/VA, Wheeling/Steubenville, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Yakima/Pasco/Richland/Kennewick, Youngstown [Spokane would be missing FOX and one of its two CBS affiliates, but its primary CBS is unaffected]

Markets that would only have one Big Four station
Abilene/Sweetwater (FOX), Albany/Schenectady/Troy (NBC), Amarillo (CBS), Bakersfield (ABC), Binghamton (CBS), Champaign/Springfield/Decatur (NBC), Charleston SC (CBS), Charleston WV/Huntington (NBC), Columbus OH (CBS), Dayton (CBS), El Paso/Las Cruces (ABC), Fresno/Visalia (ABC), Greenville/New Bern/Washington (NBC), Little Rock/Pine Bluff (CBS), Mobile/Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach (FOX), Providence/New Bedford (ABC), Rochester NY (NBC), San Angelo (FOX), Topeka (CBS), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (ABC), Youngstown (NBC) [Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek loses three Big Four stations, but still has ABC (the GR market has two ABC affiliates) and FOX]

Markets that would have none of their Big Four, but would still have CW, MNT, and/or an independent
Johnstown/Altoona/State College (CW/MNT), Tri-Cities TN/VA (indie WKPT)

Markets that would have zero non-PBS locals
Eureka, Greenwood/Greenville (no CW or MNT in the market), Syracuse, Wheeling/Steubenville (no CW in the market)

 

[TheBigA]

The dispute with CBS has been resolved.

https://www.rbr.com/cbs-att-end-stalemate-with-a-new-retrans-consent-deal/

All this really says to me is that I shouldn't sign up for DirecTV. Which is fine, since I have no intention to do so.

Long term, this says that watching TV, even in the ala carte world, will not be getting cheaper.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

If Sinclair were to get taken off AT&T/DirecTV before Nexstar and Northwest stations return, there would be few unscathed markets, with most of those being top 20 or bottom 40 markets (some very small markets don't have local channels through DirecTV). I decided to make this a separate thread than the general programming dispute thread due to the major ramifications.

Markets that would be unaffected completely
Anchorage, Atlanta, Bangor, Bend, Biloxi/Gulfport, Boston/Manchester, Bowling Green, Casper/Riverton, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Cheyenne/Scottsbluff, Chicago, Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Columbus/Tupelo/West Point, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Duluth/Superior, Fairbanks, Fargo/Valley City, Fort Myers/Naples, Great Falls, Harrisonburg, Helena, Houston, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Juneau, Kansas City, Lafayette IN, Lake Charles, Laredo, Lima, Los Angeles, Louisville, Mankato, Meridian, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Monterey/Salinas, Montgomery/Selma, New Orleans, New York, Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, Palm Springs, Parkersburg, Philadelphia, Presque Isle, Rochester/Mason City/Austin, Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Saint Joseph, Salisbury/Ocean City, San Diego, Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo, Sherman/Ada, Tucson/Sierra Vista, Twin Falls, Victoria, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wilmington

Markets affected by OOM default affiliates (i.e. a market that doesn't have its own NBC but the default NBC is owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, or Northwest)
Alpena (NBC), Glendive (ABC/FOX), Zanesville (ABC/CW/FOX/MNT)

Markets that would only lose (or have only lost) a CW or MNT affiliate
Indianapolis (CW/MNT), Milwaukee (CW/MNT), Minneapolis/Saint Paul (CW), Phoenix/Prescott (CW), San Francisco (MNT)

Markets that would lose both CBS and FOX (important as they hold the NFL rights)
Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Bakersfield, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Iowa City/Dubuque, Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, Charleston WV/Huntington, El Paso/Las Cruces, Eureka, Fresno/Visalia, Grand Junction/Montrose, Green Bay/Appleton, Greenville/New Bern/Washington, Greenwood/Greenville, Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Medford/Klamath Falls, Peoria/Bloomington, Portland/Auburn, Providence/New Bedford, Rochester NY, South Bend/Elkhart, Springfield MO, Syracuse, Tri-Cities TN/VA, Wheeling/Steubenville, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Yakima/Pasco/Richland/Kennewick, Youngstown [Spokane would be missing FOX and one of its two CBS affiliates, but its primary CBS is unaffected]

Markets that would only have one Big Four station
Abilene/Sweetwater (FOX), Albany/Schenectady/Troy (NBC), Amarillo (CBS), Bakersfield (ABC), Binghamton (CBS), Champaign/Springfield/Decatur (NBC), Charleston SC (CBS), Charleston WV/Huntington (NBC), Columbus OH (CBS), Dayton (CBS), El Paso/Las Cruces (ABC), Fresno/Visalia (ABC), Greenville/New Bern/Washington (NBC), Little Rock/Pine Bluff (CBS), Mobile/Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach (FOX), Providence/New Bedford (ABC), Rochester NY (NBC), San Angelo (FOX), Topeka (CBS), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (ABC), Youngstown (NBC) [Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek loses three Big Four stations, but still has ABC (the GR market has two ABC affiliates) and FOX]

Markets that would have none of their Big Four, but would still have CW, MNT, and/or an independent
Johnstown/Altoona/State College (CW/MNT), Tri-Cities TN/VA (indie WKPT)

Markets that would have zero non-PBS locals
Eureka, Greenwood/Greenville (no CW or MNT in the market), Syracuse, Wheeling/Steubenville (no CW in the market)

That is crazy though for AT&T to be in three big disputes though at the same time given that if the Nexstar AT&T dispute is not resolved at the same time the Sinclair/AT&T dispute starts then AT&T would get two of the largest tv station owners in the country shut down though. and AT&T just resolved the CBS dispute recently though. I expect Nexstar and Sinclair to join with the networks with the Locast lawsuit though given that Disney, Fox, CBS and Comcast all accused Locast for violating copyright law and it was getting people away from the networks streaming outlets. I know during the recent AT&T/CBS Dispute CBS accused AT&T for having the locast app on their TV's and accused Directv for contract violations though.

 

[Megatron]

Is AT&T & Sinclair deal coming up? I know they are still in a dispute with Sinclair sidecars they have been dark for a few months now but I don't have the evil empire that is AT&T.

 

[crainbebo]

A Sinclair dispute would be devastating for our market. After all, we've been denied FOX due to the Northwest dispute, way back in February. Then the AFC games would be taken away from KIMA/KEPR if a deal isn't reached with Sinclair. This is a detrimental time for DIRECTV...if they don't reach a deal soon, Dish will be slammed with calls from the 509 area code demanding Seahawks games on Fox. And they will take profits away from AT&T. Hahahahaha....

 

[anotherguyTN]

I didn't think about it until now but in a way AT&T is biting themselves in the rear end in the contract disputes with Sinclair, CBS and Nexstar where the stations carry CW programming. In a way it serves them right.

 

[Don CT]

I didn't think about it until now but in a way AT&T is biting themselves in the rear end in the contract disputes with Sinclair, CBS and Nexstar where the stations carry CW programming. In a way it serves them right.

How many people are upset to lose CW?

 

[FreddyE1977]

My brother has Dish Network and they basically came out and installed an OTA antenna for him
for free. Now he gets his locals off of that and his cable stations from the dish.

Apparently Dish does not intend to continue playing the local carriage fee game.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

With the general decline in viewership of the broadcast networks, I wonder if Dish would consider dropping local TV stations altogether.

Just since 2008, the five commercial broadcast networks have declined from a 25.6 HH primetime rating to a 17.6 HH primetime rating.
Go back to 1995 and the four big broadcast networks had a 41 rating, not counting the 6.4 rating received by independents and minor networks like UPN in that year.

If you look at live-only or younger demos, the picture looks even worse for the broadcast networks, BTW. Last season through Thanksgiving the broadcast networks had a 7.5 live-only rating among adults 18-49.

So the market conditions that led Dish Network and DirecTV to create all these spot feeds to deliver local programming no longer exist. And yet broadcasters keep demanding more money from MVPDs year after year.

Is there a point when Dish Network in particular decide that the bandwidth for these spot beams is more lucratively used for HughesNet satellite internet service?

 

[Mr Tony]

If Sinclair were to get taken off AT&T/DirecTV before Nexstar and Northwest stations return, there would be few unscathed markets, with most of those being top 20 or bottom 40 markets (some very small markets don't have local channels through DirecTV). I decided to make this a separate thread than the general programming dispute thread due to the major ramifications.

Markets affected by OOM default affiliates (i.e. a market that doesn't have its own NBC but the default NBC is owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, or Northwest)
Alpena (NBC), Glendive (ABC/FOX), Zanesville (ABC/CW/FOX/MNT)

couple thoughts on this. It wouldnt be affected as legally Directv can import a different affiliate which in some cases they just import the national feed
Alpena nor Glendive are on satellite so legally they can get distants for the networks you listed which would be NY or LA (NY for Alpena, LA for Glendive).
Zanesville doesnt get MNT since they can not be imported and CW is a national feed

But using Dish's lineup as example Glendive would not be affected as they get Gray's KOTA & KEVN from Rapid City, SD
Alpena get WEYI from Flint which while run by Sinclair is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings and may be exempt
Zanesville does get ABC & FOX from a Sinclair affiliate

Markets that would be unaffected completely
Mankato

as of right now Mankato does get WUCW Minneapolis for CW...until September when Gray launches KMNF-LD NBC & CW+

 

[TheBigA]

So the market conditions that led Dish Network and DirecTV to create all these spot feeds to deliver local programming no longer exist. And yet broadcasters keep demanding more money from MVPDs year after year.

The fact that they continue to come to agreements tells me it's not that big a problem.

 

[kramie13]

If Sinclair were to get taken off AT&T/DirecTV before Nexstar and Northwest stations return, there would be few unscathed markets, with most of those being top 20 or bottom 40 markets (some very small markets don't have local channels through DirecTV). I decided to make this a separate thread than the general programming dispute thread due to the major ramifications.

Markets that would be unaffected completely
Anchorage, Atlanta, Bangor, Bend, Biloxi/Gulfport, Boston/Manchester, Bowling Green, Casper/Riverton, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Cheyenne/Scottsbluff, Chicago, Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Columbus/Tupelo/West Point, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Duluth/Superior, Fairbanks, Fargo/Valley City, Fort Myers/Naples, Great Falls, Harrisonburg, Helena, Houston, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Juneau, Kansas City, Lafayette IN, Lake Charles, Laredo, Lima, Los Angeles, Louisville, Mankato, Meridian, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Monterey/Salinas, Montgomery/Selma, New Orleans, New York, Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, Palm Springs, Parkersburg, Philadelphia, Presque Isle, Rochester/Mason City/Austin, Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Saint Joseph, Salisbury/Ocean City, San Diego, Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo, Sherman/Ada, Tucson/Sierra Vista, Twin Falls, Victoria, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wilmington

Markets affected by OOM default affiliates (i.e. a market that doesn't have its own NBC but the default NBC is owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, or Northwest)
Alpena (NBC), Glendive (ABC/FOX), Zanesville (ABC/CW/FOX/MNT)

Markets that would only lose (or have only lost) a CW or MNT affiliate
Indianapolis (CW/MNT), Milwaukee (CW/MNT), Minneapolis/Saint Paul (CW), Phoenix/Prescott (CW), San Francisco (MNT)

Markets that would lose both CBS and FOX (important as they hold the NFL rights)
Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Bakersfield, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Iowa City/Dubuque, Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, Charleston WV/Huntington, El Paso/Las Cruces, Eureka, Fresno/Visalia, Grand Junction/Montrose, Green Bay/Appleton, Greenville/New Bern/Washington, Greenwood/Greenville, Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Medford/Klamath Falls, Peoria/Bloomington, Portland/Auburn, Providence/New Bedford, Rochester NY, South Bend/Elkhart, Springfield MO, Syracuse, Tri-Cities TN/VA, Wheeling/Steubenville, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Yakima/Pasco/Richland/Kennewick, Youngstown [Spokane would be missing FOX and one of its two CBS affiliates, but its primary CBS is unaffected]

Markets that would only have one Big Four station
Abilene/Sweetwater (FOX), Albany/Schenectady/Troy (NBC), Amarillo (CBS), Bakersfield (ABC), Binghamton (CBS), Champaign/Springfield/Decatur (NBC), Charleston SC (CBS), Charleston WV/Huntington (NBC), Columbus OH (CBS), Dayton (CBS), El Paso/Las Cruces (ABC), Fresno/Visalia (ABC), Greenville/New Bern/Washington (NBC), Little Rock/Pine Bluff (CBS), Mobile/Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach (FOX), Providence/New Bedford (ABC), Rochester NY (NBC), San Angelo (FOX), Topeka (CBS), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (ABC), Youngstown (NBC) [Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek loses three Big Four stations, but still has ABC (the GR market has two ABC affiliates) and FOX]

Markets that would have none of their Big Four, but would still have CW, MNT, and/or an independent
Johnstown/Altoona/State College (CW/MNT), Tri-Cities TN/VA (indie WKPT)

Markets that would have zero non-PBS locals
Eureka, Greenwood/Greenville (no CW or MNT in the market), Syracuse, Wheeling/Steubenville (no CW in the market)

This list assumes that any stations not owned by Nexstar or Sinclair, but still operated by them, would also be dropped from AT&T's pay-TV platforms. That is incorrect. DirecTV subscribers still receive their local FOX station, WNAC as it is owned by Super Towns, Inc., even though it is a sister station to WPRI which IS off DirecTV because it is a Nexstar-owned station.

However, if a Sinclair/AT&T dispute were to happen, we'd see the following scenarios happen in the Northeast:
-Providence, RI would be without both CBS and NBC. With Providence being within 30 miles of Gillette Stadium, this would certainly affect New England Patriots fans.
-Portland, ME would be without CBS. This will also affect New England Patriots fans.
-Albany, NY would be without both CBS and ABC. This would affect New York Jets and Buffalo Bills fans.
-Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY would be without FOX. This will affect New York Giants fans.
-Baltimore, MD would be without FOX. This will affect Washington Redskins fans.
-Rochester, NY and Buffalo, NY would both be without CBS AND FOX. Nexstar owns the CBS affiliates in both markets, while Sinclair owns the FOX affiliates in both markets. This will not only impact Buffalo Bills fans, but all NFL fans in general.
-Binghamton, NY would be without FOX, ABC, and NBC. Northwest Broadcasting owns the FOX affiliate, and New York Giants fans would be impacted.
-Syracuse, NY would be without FOX, ABC, and NBC. This is the only market where 3 separate disputes affect 3 different Big Four affiliates. New York Giants fans would be impacted but Buffalo Bills fans would be spared.