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DirecTV and Scripps Agree on New Carriage Deal, Ending Five-Week Blackout of 54 Stations
The multi-year deal announced July 10 ends a five-week blackout affecting viewers in 36 cities. It returns ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and independent stations to DirecTV subscribers in about 40 markets.
Jul 11, 12:52 PM·1m read2 sources
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DirecTV and The E.W. Scripps Co. reached a new multi-year carriage agreement announced late Friday, July 10, 2026, that restored 54 Scripps-owned local broadcast stations to DirecTV subscribers in about 40 markets.
The agreement ended a five-week carriage dispute that began May 31, 2026, when the stations were blacked out for DirecTV subscribers in 36 cities including Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Nashville, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. " Thun added: "We're grateful to our customers for their patience.
Among the restored stations are local ABC affiliates in Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, and Buffalo, New York; CBS stations in Nashville, Billings, Montana, and Omaha, Nebraska; Fox stations in Salt Lake City and Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, Michigan; NBC stations in Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colorado, Lexington, Kentucky, Milwaukee, and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and independent stations in Denver, Kansas City, Missouri, and West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce, Florida.
Scripps also owns the national network Ion. The company sold Court TV to Law&Crime studio and network in February 2026 and unanimously rejected a $622 million takeover bid from Sinclair in December 2025.
Retransmission fees remain a major revenue source for local TV stations, according to Bloomberg.
