Tegna, DirecTV dispute comes to an end as the two reach a multiyear agreement

In November, DirecTV customers lost all access to local news and broadcast stations owned by Tegna after the two failed to reach a resolution in their carriage negotiations. On Saturday, they reached a multiyear distribution agreement.

What does the agreement cover?

DirecTV and Tegna's multiyear distribution agreement covers Tegna's 64 owned stations in the 51 Nielsen designated markets.

All stations and programming are returned to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse customers as of Saturday, Jan. 13.

In a news release from DirecTV and TEGNA, both companies said they greatly appreciate the patience of their subscribers and viewers.

What Tegna stations left DirecTV in Iowa?

In central Iowa, viewers lost access to channel 5 WOI, the ABC affiliate, and KCWI, a CW station.

Viewers in eastern Iowa lost access to ABC. Tegna owns Moline, Illinois-based WQAD, which covers the Quad Cities market.

In neighboring states, Tegna also owns KARE, an NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, and KSDK, an NBC affiliate in St. Louis. In total, Tegna owns stations in more than 50 metro regions.

Why did Tegna and DirecTV have to negotiate?

DirecTV and Tegna had been negotiating a renewal of what's known as a transmission consent agreement. Satellite distributors are prohibited by law from carrying broadcaster's signals without their consent.

Therefore, the two needed to come to an agreement for Tegna's stations to be offered on the satellite network. Disputes usually center around the amount of money providers must pay the broadcasters.

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her atvreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter@VictoriaReynaR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Tegna and DirecTV reach broadcast agreement after months