Sunbeam Television's WSVN Miami and WHDH-WLVI Boston have gone dark for DirecTV subscribers as the broadcaster and satellite TV operator have failed to reach a retransmission consent agreement.
WSVN is a Fox affiliate, WHDH is an NBC, and WLVI is a CW outlet.
DirecTV subscribers in these markets have had to make other accommodations to watch some NFL playoff games, including the 49ers-Saints contest January 14, and Giants-Packers Jan. 15.
"There is always one outlier, like Sunbeam, who has no problem committing an unthinkable abuse of the public trust in an effort to shake down an excessive financial arrangement for themselves," said Derek Chang, executive vice president of programming for DirecTV. "We have no problem compensating Sunbeam fairly, but we have to take a stand against runaway greed and a shameless attempt to extort a more than 300% fee increase that our customers risk having to absorb."
The WHDH site says: "Sunbeam Television Corporation, the parent company of WHDH-TV Channel 7 and WLVI Channel 56, could not come to an agreement regarding a renewal of its carriage agreement with DirecTV. As of now, you will not be able to view WHDH and WLVI on DirecTV, but you can receive Channel 7 and Channel 56 over the air and from other cable and satellite providers."
A report on WSVN quotes general manager Robert Leider saying Sunbeam seeks fair market value for its signal, and that DirecTV's claims of "greed and extortion are outrageous."
