Super Bowl Blackouts Loom As Retrans Battles Continue

With the Feb. 5 Super Bowl fast approaching, pay-TV subscribers in seven states are at risk of missing one of TV’s biggest events due to local Fox affiliates being blacked out by MVPDs.

According to the American Television Alliance (which is backed by cable and satellite companies among others), Fox affiliates are currently blacked out in:

  • Spokane, Wash., where Northwest Broadcasting’s KAYU is off Cable One.
  • Syracuse, N.Y., where Verizon has dropped Bristlecone-owned WSYT from its lineup.
  • Sioux Falls, S.D., where Independent Communications’ KTTW hasn’t been carried by Medicacom cable since October 2016.
  • Greenville-Greenwood, Miss., where Northwest’s Fox affiliate, a WABG subchannel, is also blacked out on Cable One.

Related: Super Bowl Ratings Are ‘Bulletproof,’ Says Fox’s Shanks

Affected subscribers could still watch the game over-the-air with the help of an antenna.

There have been 75 blackouts to date in 2017, ATVA says, saying that number puts the year on pace to be a record-setter for blackouts. There were 104 blackouts in 2016, the advocacy group says.