Key Takeaways
- Nexstar and DIRECTV reached a distribution agreement, ending DIRECTV's blackout of Nexstar's TV stations and NewsNation cable news network.
- The two sides finalized the deal after striking a temporary settlement Sunday.
- The news came just a week after Disney and Charter ended their dispute over cable fees.
Nexstar Media Group (NXST) and DIRECTV reached a multi-year distribution agreement that will end DIRECTV’s more than 75-day blackout of Nexstar’s 176 local television stations and NewsNation cable news network.
The two sides finalized the deal after announcing a temporary settlement yesterday morning ahead of Sunday’s National Football League games. Terms of the package were not disclosed.
The news came just a week after The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and Charter Communications (CHTR) settled their dispute over fees that led Disney to cut off service to Charter’s Spectrum cable system. Charter had argued that the current cable TV model is broken and needs to be overhauled because customers were paying too much for content they didn’t want.
DIRECTV CEO Bill Morrow pointed to that trend on Monday, telling subscribers, “Unfortunately, over the past decade-plus, access to your programming has become a battleground for networks and stations to try to drive up higher rates.”?
Shares of Nexstar Media Group lost ground and dipped 1.3% on Monday following the news, but were still above the two-and-a-half-year low they hit earlier in the month.?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/NXST_SPXTR_chart1-16bc84f181f349ec8bd54d31bc778e9c.png)
YCharts