After a weeks long standoff, AT&T and Tegna finally blinked: the companies reached a “multi-year” agreement that will keep Tegna’s 46 channels on DirecTV and U-verse.
The deal wasn’t disclosed, but it’s big news for Tegna: The company, formerly Gannett, is the largest independent TV station owner in America. It reaches a third of U.S. households. That would have been a huge chunk of people unable to access local affiliates for NBC, ABC and CBS.
The retransmission negotiations were brought about due to AT&T’s attempt to cut expenditures following its DirecTV purchase. Tegna wanted to raise its transmission fees at a rate that AT&T was not comfortable with, especially considering the downturn in network affiliate viewership.
The two sides reached an agreement, and Tegna channels will be on AT&T’s platforms.