DirecTV announced Saturday morning that it has forged a last-minute program licensing renewal deal with Fox to keep Fox-owned stations, as well as cable channels including Fox Sports 1 and 2, on its satellite and IP-based pay TV platforms.
Fox began warning viewers last week that its agreement with the No. 3 pay TV operator was going to expire at midnight Friday and that a blackout of its channels was imminent unless a new deal was forged.
A blackout would have taken away access for DirecTV subscribers to Saturday morning's World Cup match between the U.S. and The Netherlands. It also would have scuttled for them Fox's Saturday night broadcast of the Big Ten championship game between Michigan and Purdue.
DirecTV has an estimated 13.5 million remaining subscribers across DirecTV satellite TV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse TV.
Services covered under the renewal include broadcast retransmission for Fox-owned stations in 19 of the nation's largest markets, as well as carriage for FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, Fox Deportes and Fox Soccer Plus. ■
