Scripps Pulls 54 Local Stations from DIRECTV After Seeking Record Retransmission Consent Rates

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Scripps Local Media cut off 54 local broadcast stations in 36 Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs) from DIRECTV streaming, satellite, and U-verse customers starting at 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 31. Scripps is demanding the highest rates DIRECTV has ever received from a station group, which would continue to dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses already struggling with affordability. After DIRECTV declined those demands and sought a more reasonable agreement, Scripps chose to remove its stations from viewers in several major markets nationwide.

The removal impacts voters ahead of several state and local primary elections in June and beyond, while also disrupting important live events for sports fans, including the upcoming NBA and NHL Stanley Cup finals on ABC and the U.S. Open golf tournament on NBC. Scripps has 17 ABC affiliates, including KTNV-ABC in Las Vegas, where the hometown Golden Knights are now set to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL championship. The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs will meet for the NBA title next week, as well.

Broadcasters like Scripps continue to accumulate exclusive control over local sports teams or other civic content, only to then deny viewers access at times of peak demand. This enables stations to leverage municipal pride and fan loyalties to demand higher guaranteed retransmission rates from distributors like DIRECTV to carry their free, over-the-air stations, despite rising regulatory and public concern over escalating television and other day-to-day costs, and amid the growing availability of multiple streaming alternatives. Indeed, most national network programs, live sports events, and local stations' newscasts remain widely available on network and station streaming platforms.

Nevertheless, Scripps and its peers continue to remove content from American viewers in hopes of enriching their bottom lines. Scripps removed 40 of its stations from Comcast Xfinity customers in 19 of these same cities for more than a month, starting April 1.

"We understand customers are frustrated by temporarily losing their usual access to Scripps stations and the local news, network programming, and live sports they provide," said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DIRECTV. "Unfortunately, Scripps is demanding the highest rates we have ever seen for programming that remains available for free over-the-air and through many station, network, and third-party streaming apps. We remain committed to protecting customers from indiscriminate and unnecessary cost increases for less popular programming while still working to restore the stations that many viewers rely on."

Scripps has suspended stations in cities including Baltimore, Boise, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Lexington, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Omaha, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and West Palm Beach, among others.

DIRECTV will continue fighting on behalf of its customers by seeking a reasonable compromise with Scripps. In the meantime, for information on accessing content removed by Scripps, we urge customers to visit tvpromise.com.

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SOURCE DIRECTV