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

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The biggest ratings force in American television is about to kick off high holy postseason services, but ridiculous impediments for the rapt audience await

NFL
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Coming off a year in which seven of the top 10 most watched shows were NFL postseason games, and the other three were NFL regular-season holiday matchups, you'd think the TV/video business would prioritize unfettered access to the veritable high holy event that is pro football's Wild Card Weekend. 

But some football fans will run up against solid blocking starting Saturday. 

In Cleveland, fans have rejoiced as former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco, who turns 38 next week, has come off the practice squad to lead the injury-riddled Browns into a Wild Card match-up against the Houston Texans Saturday. 

But if they get their channels via DirecTV, these Cleveland viewers are going to have to scramble (or audible, depending on your choice of dumb pun) in order to see the 4:30 p.m. ET game, with local NBC affiliate WKYC off DirecTV's grid because of a retrans dispute with station group Tegna. 

While Cleveland is the most specifically impacted market, the Tegna dispute will have plenty of collateral damage for fans in distant markets. For example, DirecTV-subscribing Dallas Cowboys faithful in the Texas enclaves of San Antonio, San Angelo and Abilene currently have their Fox affiliates blacked out on DirecTV, which will affect viewership of Saturday’s game against Green Bay. 

A DirecTV rep told us Tuesday there was no news to share about the blackout, which has been going on since late November. 

Meanwhile, subscription streaming platform Peacock, which holds a walled garden of around 30 million paid subscribers, as of NBCUniversal's end-of-September count, is about to present Saturday night’s Miami-Kansas City AFC matchup exclusively, with no simultaneous NBC network broadcast outside of the participating teams’ respective home TV markets. 

The NFL is collecting an additional $110 million from NBCU to give its SVOD the exclusive window. But not all NFL and fans are happy about the game being confined to the streaming service, which starts at $5.99 a month.

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!