Mission Broadcasting

It should be settled soon, DIRECTV claims they will pay whatever extra retransmission fees Mission Broadcasting has agreed on. And, do be aware, this also happened to cable provider Verizon FIOS so don’t think you can ‘escape’ by getting a different TV provider. Every cable, satellite, and streaming live TV provider has disputes from time to time.

More info on current dispute status here:

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/directv-asks-broadcast-groups-to-return-channels-for-election-season

And now you know one of the main reasons that subscription prices keep rising. 

@Prc56 

Changing TV providers will not protect you from this situation. They don't own the channels, so they have to negotiate those carriage agreements again and again. Local affiliates are more commonly playing hardball, threatening their viewer base that they will pull the channel (or actually doing it). This is to leverage customers against the TV provider so they can get their higher rates. That in turn raises our (the customer's) bill. TV provider's costs go up, then so does our bill with the annual price adjustment.

Most of us don't go to a pay TV provider for our locals. As a backup, it is suggested to use a regular over-the-air (OTA) antenna on your TV to pick up the locals that are in range. Sometimes this pulls up more locals then the TV provider may provide you (including sub-channels and those from a neighboring market).

In any case, your post does not affect their negotiations. This is just a customer to customer forum. If you chose to cancel over this, then call DirecTV and you can give the reason why. But as mentioned, no provider is immune from these negotiations. This is just DirecTV's turn in the rotation.

The ABC affiliate in Burlington, VT WVNY 22 is one of the stations blackout by this dispute.  Fortunately I can get ABC sports programming via ESPN+ as well as stream the ABC network programming like Grey's Anatomy.   So it makes me wonder why do I need DirecTV?

@pzietz 

You need DirecTV, or any other pay TV provider, for national channels you cannot get otherwise. Normally you do not go to any pay TV for your free over-the-air (OTA) locals.

If locals is all that matters, get a regular channel and enjoy the free broadcst. Why should DirecTV (or any pay TV provider), and us customers keep paying more for those free broadcast channels?

This is beyond ridiculous and the customers are paying dearly for this nonsense.  

when will the two sides start acting like responsible professionals and cut this crap out?

This post is 8 months old and it was settled around then and it will continue so long as the channels demand more money for their programs.