Hawkeye fans with DirecTV may miss the Citrus Bowl due to Tegna contract dispute
Two Iowa ABC stations have been in a blackout the entire month of December, as Tegna and DirecTV failed to reach a contract negotiation. Now, viewers could miss out on the Iowa vs. Tennessee Citrus Bowl.
Who will miss out on watching the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl on TV, and can they find it other places?
Iowans in some parts of the state with DirecTV may not be able to watch the Hawkeyes play in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day.
The game will be aired on ABC, but WOI, the affiliate serving Des Moines, and WQAD, the affiliate serving the Quad Cities, are owned by Tegna and are part of a contract dispute with DirecTV. Unless the two companies reach an agreement, the channels will still be blacked out on game day. Des Moines' CW affiliate, KCWI, is also part of the dispute.
"Just know that anyone wanting to see the game can actually stream it at ESPN3 on the ESPN website or app, and Disney will likely add it to ESPN+, as well," said Tom Tyrer, spokesperson for DirecTV.
Consumers can also set up an antenna and get the service over the air, said Michael Hartman, general counsel and chief external affairs officer at DirecTV. While it's not good for their business, it's good for consumers, he said.
The Tegna stations are also available through other cable, satellite and streaming providers. The local channels are offered on YouTube TV, FuboTV and Hulu + Live TV, a Tegna spokesperson said. Some streaming services may offer a free trial that would allow fans to catch the game without making a long-term commitment.
What do DirecTV and Tegna say about the state of their blackout?
"For us, it comes down to choice and value. And consumers are showing us and telling us through their behaviors that we want more choice," Tyrer said.
Hartman said the thing DirecTV is trying to communicate is that consumers don't like blackouts, and DirecTV doesn't like blackouts.
"They're inconvenient for our customers, and we'd like to avoid them," Hartman said. "But broadcasters are acting like there's not a reality there. And then we can't just keep charging more and more for subscribers for these channels and especially when the content's available elsewhere."
Tyrer said that a dispute like this, if timed correctly, can promise station owners hundreds of millions in guaranteed revenue for a few years, regardless of whether the station keeps losing viewers.
"That’s why there’ve been 146 disputes during the football season since 2017 — including 57 in the first half of the season and 89 in the second and postseason playoffs — compared to only 58 disputes in all the other months of the year," Tyrer said.
Hartman said Tegna is asking for the highest broadcast rates in the market, and "huge" increases. These are increases DirecTV refuses to accept, saying it's unsustainable and leading more consumers to leave pay TV.
Anne Bentley, communications officer for Tegna, said via email, "DireCTV is playing games at customers’ expense […] DirecTV should be negotiating with us to reach a deal."
Bentley said that Tegna will continue to hold out hope that eventually DirecTV will prioritize its paying subscribers.
"But in the meantime, Iowans shouldn’t miss another minute of our programming," she said. "They should switch to a TV provider they can count on.”
Why do Tegna and DirecTV have to negotiate?
DirecTV and Tegna had been negotiating a renewal of what's known as a transmission consent agreement. Satellite distributors are prohibited by law from carrying broadcaster's signals without their consent.
Therefore, the two need to come to an agreement for Tegna's stations to return to the satellite network. Disputes usually center around the amount of money providers must pay the broadcasters.
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How to watch the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl if you have DirecTV in Iowa
