DirecTV confirmed it has reached agreement with two TV stations, in Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, owned by Dispatch Video and that the stations are back on the leading U.S. satellite-TV provider after an outage that began on Labor Day.
A larger impasse, involving 53 TV stations owned by Raycom Media, persists, with DirecTV today calling on the broadcaster to at least permit DirecTV customers to watch National Football League contests this weekend. (UPDATE: The Raycom dispute was settled on Sept. 7 and actually involved 43 TV stations and 10 secondary streaming services.) The NFL kicked off tonight with the Green Bay Packers playing the defending champion Seattle Seahawks on NBC. DirecTV said its customers were able to watch the game online via NBCSports.com.
WTHR in Indianapolis is an NBC affiliate, while WBNS in Columbus is a CBS affiliate. A DirecTV spokesman said the stations were back on the air, confirming a tweet by Phillip Swann. WTHR was back on in time to show the NFL opener on NBC, DirecTV said. On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns play the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on CBS, of interest to Columbus fans, and on Sunday night, the NBC primetime game is between the AFC champion Denver Broncos, led by quarterback Peyton Manning, against the Indianapolis Colts, his former team and a game that many fans in the Indianapolis area will want to see, DirecTV noted in a release confirming the agreement.
