ABC affiliate in New York was pulled off the air 30 minutes before NBA Finals due to DirecTV dispute
DirecTV viewers in the Rochester, New York, market tuning in to Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors were met with a blank screen Thursday night.
The local ABC affiliate, 13WHAM, went off the air approximately 30 minutes before tipoff, per the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Toronto is less than four hours from the city and is the closest NBA team, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Fans trying to watch the channel indicated on Twitter and Facebook there was no warning the channel could be axed due to a dispute. TV subscribers are typically given a heads-up of impending blackouts as a bottom third scroll on the channel in the weeks leading up to a cut-off.
13WHAM issued a statement on Twitter 40 minutes after the game started.
ATTENTION VIEWERS: We are very sorry, but our signal to DirecTV is not being re-transmitted to their subscribers. We are working to try and resolve this issue as soon as possible, but it is beyond the control of 13WHAM.
— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) May 31, 2019
13WHAM is owned by Deerfield Media and run by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Chuck Samuels, the station’s vice president and general manager, told the D&C that DirecTV and Deerfield were not able to come to a new agreement after “several extensions” of the company’s re-transmission contract with DirecTV.
The message from DirecTV on 13WHAM during the blackout blames the owner for removing the channel “despite our request to keep it available to you.”
From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
DirecTV blames the impasse on Deerfield’s demand for a “substantial fee increase” to carry 13WHAM programming. The statement that Samuels provided counters that Deerfield “is entitled to be compensated fairly when another company,” such as DirecTV, “uses its content and re-sells it to the public.”
The coverage stretches from the eastern edge of Buffalo to the western edge of Auburn in western New York. The channel may not be back in the lineup for a while. In a statement on the 13WHAM website, Deerfield stated “it is certainly possible that DirecTV will never carry the stations in the future.”
Game 2 airs Sunday at 8 p.m. DirecTV viewers in the area can get the station via an antenna, sign up for a streaming service or switch providers, if able, before then.
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