A group representing some of the nation’s largest pay television companies is sounding the whistle on a potential programming-related dispute between Verizon and Mission Broadcasting.
The dispute would deprive viewers in two markets — Albany, New York and Providence, Rhode Island — of their local Fox and CW Network affiliates, which are owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated by Nexstar Media Group.
In a statement released to reporters on Wednesday, the American Television Alliance (ATVA) said the dispute is the latest example of broadcasters using their audience and programming as bargaining chips to demand higher fees from pay TV companies.
“Mission Broadcasting is the latest broadcaster to threaten TV blackouts for FOX and CW affiliates in key markets while demanding unjustified retransmission fee hikes that raise costs for American consumers,” Hunter Wilson, a spokesperson for the ATVA, said on Wednesday. “These tactics underscore the urgent need for retransmission consent reform and exemplify how broadcasters exploit disruptions to extract excessive profits, sidelining viewers who rely on affordable access to local stations.”
Verizon’s contract with Mission Broadcasting ends December 15, and the affected channels could be pulled if a new agreement isn’t reached before then, a source familiar with the matter told The Desk by e-mail. Mission Broadcasting and Verizon have not made public statements about the possible dispute.
The situation involving Mission Broadcasting is the second of its kind that could deprive Verizon viewers of channels. Last week, the ATVA warned that another dispute involving Verizon and Cox Media Group could leave hundreds of thousands of pay TV subscribers in several states without access to local stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
The ATVA says broadcasters have triggered more than 2,400 TV-related blackouts since 2010. That figure could not be immediately verified by The Desk, though the number of fee-related programming disruptions has increased in recent years as broadcasters seek to offset declines in their traditional advertising business by charging pay TV providers higher fees for their channels.
Those increased fee demands ultimately trickle down to pay TV subscribers in their bills, and is the leading cause of rising cable and satellite subscription fees over the past decade.
Verizon’s last programming dispute occurred in October, when the company warned it would pull local TV stations owned by Nexstar if a new contract to carry its channels wasn’t reached by a certain deadline. Both sides reach a new deal about a week later.
