Tegna, DirecTV End Blackout With New Multiyear Distribution Deal

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Agreement covers 64 stations in 51 markets and restores NBC stations ahead of Wild Card Playoff NFL game

DirecTV satellite dish
(Image credit: DirecTV)

Tegna and DirecTV said they ended their six-week blackout by reaching a new long term distribution agreement.

The deal covers Tegna's 64 TV stations, which cover 51 markets. Many are NBC affiliates, and the deal came ahead of NBC's coverage of the Cleveland Browns playing the Houston Texans in an NFL Wild Card Playoff game Saturday. NFL playoff games tend to focus distributors and broadcasters on coming to a deal to end a blackout.

Also: DirecTV-Tegna Blackout, Peacock Exclusive Threaten to Block Viewers Amid the NFL’s Big Wild Card Weekend

The stations' programming will be returning to DirecTV, DirecTV stream and U-verse today, when the NFL playoffs kicked off.

Also: NFL Playoffs Lead What's On This Weekend in TV Sports Jan. 12-15 

Financial terms were not disclosed.

In a statement the two companies said they "greatly appreciate the patience of their subscribers and viewers."

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.