Originally posted Thursday, August 8, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
DirecTV and CBS have signed a carriage deal that ends a 19-day blackout on many CBS stations nationwide and in Atlanta, CW69.
Locally, CBS pulled CW69 off the air July 20.
Atlanta DirecTV subscribers missed the series finales of CW’s ‘Jane the Virgin” and “iZombie.” Currently, the CW is offering new dramas such as “Bulletproof” and “The Outpost.”
The Atlanta CBS affiliate WGCL-TV CBS 46 is owned by Meredith, not CBS, and was unaffected. (Coincidentally, Meredith has a separate dispute keeping CBS46 off the air for rival Dish subscribers the past three weeks.)
The two companies, in a joint statement, “regret any inconvenience to their customers and viewers and thank them for their patience.”
As more consumer money flows into streaming services, the traditional cable and satellite companies are trying to reduce costs and cable networks are fighting harder to keep their revenues from falling off the cliff. As a result, these types of blackouts are becoming more common.
Right now, for Dish and Sling subscribers, Braves games are not being offered because of a dispute with Fox Sports regional networks. That blackout has been going on since July 26 and Dish/Sling subscribers have missed games against the Phillies, Nationals, Reds and Twins.
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