WPRI back on for DirecTV customers, but FOX Providence is still missing

Wheeler Cowperthwaite, Providence Journal
·2 min read

EAST PROVIDENCE − WPRI Channel 12 has come on the air for DirecTV customers after its parent company, Nexstar, reached a tentative deal for a new contract that ends a 75-day blackout.

In a two-sentence joint statement, the companies wrote that they agreed to temporarily return Nexstar-owned stations and the cable news network NewsNation to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse, while the two companies are still working on the terms of a new agreement.

When was WPRI pulled from DirecTV?

WPRI and myRITV were among the 176 Nexstar-owned stations pulled from DirecTV on July 2, as the two companies were in a dispute over a new distribution contract.

On WPRI's website, the channel laid the blame for the contract dispute at the feet of the majority owner of DirecTV, AT&T, which owns 70% of the satellite TV provider, after spinning it off into its own company in 2021.

The end to the impasse comes at the start of the football season. WPRI broadcasts New England Patriots games.

Local stations, WPRI included, are often impacted by contract negotiations between station owners and cable and satellite TV companies. Last October, WPRI was returned to Verizon Fios customers after a dispute took it off that distributor for 14 days.

Is FOX Providence returning to DirecTV?

While WPRI has returned to DirecTV, its sister stations, FOX Providence (WNAC), on channel 64, and The CW, on channel 17, have been off of DirecTV since October 2022. Fox Providence and The CW are owned by Mission Broadcasting and distributed by Nexstar.

The deal between Nexstar and DirecTV appears to cover just the Nexstar owned stations, not those owned by Mission Broadcasting or White Knight Broadcasting that are distributed by Nexstar.

Why DirecTV is suing Nexstar

DirecTV is suing Nexstar over the distribution of channels owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, alleging the three companies are conspiring to "illegally increase content costs for free over-the-air TV."

"The fees distributors pay for permission to offer their customers local broadcast stations have soared more than 5,000% in the past 17 years and is the single largest source of rising costs facing video consumers today," DirecTV wrote in a news release about the lawsuit.

How to access Fox Providence

Fox Providence can still be accessed over the airwaves with a TV antenna on Channel 64, or with a subscription to YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV.

FOX Providence has been removed from the other satellite TV provider, DISH Network, since January, in a contract dispute between its owner, Mission Broadcasting, and DISH Network.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: DirecTV blackout of WPRI over, but not FOX Providence