Well, ATT could cave in and just pay what everyone is demanding witch is in some case 50% more and THEN your bill would go way up ...
Prices don't change but once a year.
Sinclair stations set to go dark on 9/27
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Prices don't change but once a year.
Remember, its not Directv that is pulling the stations ...
They may be under a different contract.
Deerfield is a shell corporation of Sinclair, just like Cunningham Broadcasting, I think they may have another as well. They created them to skirt FCC ownership laws.
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You misunderstood me, I'm just sick of all these disputes, I in no way want ATT to give in, I'm fine with 1 time a year price hike, just saying we end up paying higher fees in the end. I'm glad my ABC and also ESPN are intact, just hate seeing CBS go, but don't watch it much as I have CBS All Access through Amazon Prime as I stated.
My CBS is owned by Raycom, so I'm good for awhile.
I would hate to lose my CBS, most of what I watch during the Sept / May is on CBS for non Sports shows.
Now would be the time as everything new is starting.
I just tried to order a Local Channel Connector or LCC so I can get my locals when they go dark.
They ordered it and the ATT system auto canceled. Call back and they said I can not order one until the channel is actually blacked out, they might settle.
So this means now . 2-3 days of no locals . I will miss my game now. Have to try OTA on normal TV I guess but cant record.
I guess they are giving these out for free so I can see why they want to wait to it is really turned off.
They ordered it and the ATT system auto canceled. Call back and they said I can not order one until the channel is actually blacked out, they might settle.
So this means now . 2-3 days of no locals . I will miss my game now. Have to try OTA on normal TV I guess but cant record.
I guess they are giving these out for free so I can see why they want to wait to it is really turned off.
AT&T ought to be making it super-easy for all of their DTV customers to buy the LCC at a break-even cost at any time. Just log into your account and, if one of your receivers is LCC-compatible, you click a button and your credit card is charged $50 or whatever it costs them to get the item to you.
And then, when there's an actual local channel blackout, the cost of the LCC drops to zero. You could still order it online or, when clueless customers called up to complain about the loss of their local channel, they'd just ask them if they wanted the free LCC.
So, let's see, AT&T has renegotiated (or is currently renegotiating) carriage contracts this year with:
Going back in time, we can see that they renewed their Fox deal for several more years just last Nov (2018). Looks like they renewed their deals with both Discovery Networks and NBCUniversal back in Sept. 2016. (Given that both deals covered DirecTV Now too, it's odd that none of the Discovery-owned channels have shown up in that service's new Plus and Max packages that debuted in March 2019. However, NBCU channels like USA and MSNBC are included in both Plus and Max.)
AMC Networks apparently renewed their deal with DirecTV back in Nov. 2014. Along with Discovery and A+E, none of the AMC channels have yet appeared in the new Plus or Max packages. Five years is a long while, so it's certainly possible that the current contract with AMC will be lapsing soon. If there's going to be another potential blackout this year on DirecTV, AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now, I'd put my money on AMC Networks (which includes BBC America, IFC, Sundance, and We TV).
DirecTV renewed their deal with Hallmark/Crown Media back in March 2008 and then AT&T first added it to Uverse TV in July 2015; perhaps that latter deal also covered a renewal at DirecTV too. I can find nothing about any subsequent deals/renewals between AT&T and Hallmark, although The Hallmark Channel appeared in both Plus and Max when those packages debuted on DirecTV Now this past March, so apparently Hallmark has been cleared for streaming.
There really aren't any noteworthy cable channel groups outside of those I listed above.
- Viacom (deal was struck in April, resulting in Viacom channels getting added to AT&T's new Plus and Max packages)
- A+E Networks (June)
- CBS (August)
- Nexstar (largest owner of locals, August)
- Disney (September)
- Sinclair (2nd-largest owner of locals, September)
Going back in time, we can see that they renewed their Fox deal for several more years just last Nov (2018). Looks like they renewed their deals with both Discovery Networks and NBCUniversal back in Sept. 2016. (Given that both deals covered DirecTV Now too, it's odd that none of the Discovery-owned channels have shown up in that service's new Plus and Max packages that debuted in March 2019. However, NBCU channels like USA and MSNBC are included in both Plus and Max.)
AMC Networks apparently renewed their deal with DirecTV back in Nov. 2014. Along with Discovery and A+E, none of the AMC channels have yet appeared in the new Plus or Max packages. Five years is a long while, so it's certainly possible that the current contract with AMC will be lapsing soon. If there's going to be another potential blackout this year on DirecTV, AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now, I'd put my money on AMC Networks (which includes BBC America, IFC, Sundance, and We TV).
DirecTV renewed their deal with Hallmark/Crown Media back in March 2008 and then AT&T first added it to Uverse TV in July 2015; perhaps that latter deal also covered a renewal at DirecTV too. I can find nothing about any subsequent deals/renewals between AT&T and Hallmark, although The Hallmark Channel appeared in both Plus and Max when those packages debuted on DirecTV Now this past March, so apparently Hallmark has been cleared for streaming.
There really aren't any noteworthy cable channel groups outside of those I listed above.
My advice to anyone affected by the Sinclair/AT&T Mess:
1. DO NOT CALL AT&T (or any video provider)!!! You have no need to do that. AT&T is quite aware you want your local network affiliates.
2. INVEST IN AN OFF-AIR ANTENNA. Broadcast stations send out their signal FREE. This gives you a backup. The tried-and-true method still works, unless you live in an area too far away from the station's tower. Sinclair isn't promoting this option, though they should be required to by law.
3. IF YOU SWITCH, PREPARE TO PAY ANY FEES THAT MAY COME UP, especially if you're still under a contract.
4. PRAY LIKE HECK THAT EVERYONE WILL BECOME "KISSY KISSY" BEFORE "THE END" (Thursday afternoon-ish).
5. TO REMOVE AND IGNORE THE CRAWL, at least virtually, use the "zoom" function on your TV or HDTV receiver, if any.
6. PREPARE FOR A LONG DRY SPELL.
The FCC won't step in and force anyone to take action. The sides have to come to agreement, like it or not. BTW: If you live in Western WA (like me) you'll need to be prepared to perform a rescan on or about October 19 to keep receiving the station and others in the Seattle market off-air.
1. DO NOT CALL AT&T (or any video provider)!!! You have no need to do that. AT&T is quite aware you want your local network affiliates.
2. INVEST IN AN OFF-AIR ANTENNA. Broadcast stations send out their signal FREE. This gives you a backup. The tried-and-true method still works, unless you live in an area too far away from the station's tower. Sinclair isn't promoting this option, though they should be required to by law.
3. IF YOU SWITCH, PREPARE TO PAY ANY FEES THAT MAY COME UP, especially if you're still under a contract.
4. PRAY LIKE HECK THAT EVERYONE WILL BECOME "KISSY KISSY" BEFORE "THE END" (Thursday afternoon-ish).
5. TO REMOVE AND IGNORE THE CRAWL, at least virtually, use the "zoom" function on your TV or HDTV receiver, if any.
6. PREPARE FOR A LONG DRY SPELL.
The FCC won't step in and force anyone to take action. The sides have to come to agreement, like it or not. BTW: If you live in Western WA (like me) you'll need to be prepared to perform a rescan on or about October 19 to keep receiving the station and others in the Seattle market off-air.
It's been awhile since I've had a local go dark on DTV. Will ABC on-demand disappear for me too? What about on the ESPN app...will games shown on ABC be available?
Had a 60 or 90 second spot during our local news last night about how unfair ATT is being and to call and pester them before we lose access to KTUL 
This is BS, DTV needs to go back to where it was pre 2003 when local channels were not even an option. Especially now with everything digital. I live in a metropolitan area where I can pick up all stations with a decent antenna. Now with the LCC, they basically can send that out to all subscribers, dump the locals and save the increasing $$ they continue to demand and go back to providing premium content only. I won't continue to pay higher bills to cover fees charged by greedy local station owners like Sinclair and go the streaming route. Local channel coverage shouldn't dictate this decision
Glad you can receive them, but not everyone is in metropolitan areas. I do like what Dish does, allow you to drop your locals and their Hopper DVR's support OTA. And remember, DIRECTV doesn't support the LCC on their Genie 2 server, which is what they are pushing to new subs and folks wanting 4K upgrades.
So you want DISH and Directv to go out of business even faster. Because more people watch the Networks by far than cable channels particularly in Prime Time. There are hundreds of thousands of customers who can not get it ota, can't get them reliably ota, or it would be a hassle to do so. Rural customers depend on Satellite or Cable heavily.
Looks like this going to happen. Just checked my ABC station out of Pensacola and they still have the alert up as of 4:10 CDT. It won't affect me because I'm a Dish customer but I've got my own problems with Dish. Hope your dispute doesn't last long.
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