CBS Corporation CBS said Tuesday it continues to negotiate “resolutely and in good faith” but warned that so far it has been unable to reach an agreement to keep its programming on various cable and satellite services owned by AT&T Inc. T, which could result in a blackout.
The two companies are trying to work out an extension of a carriage agreement for CBS programming ahead of its expiration at midnight Pacific Time on Friday. If terms aren’t agreed, several large local CBS affiliate stations are set to be dropped from AT&T’s DirecTV, DirecTV Now and U-Verse pay TV platforms.
What The Companies Are Saying
“CBS has reached timely, fair agreements with hundreds of other cable, satellite, telco and internet providers to carry our industry-leading, fan-favorite programming,” the company said in a statement released Tuesday. “AT&T, however, continues to propose unfair terms well below those agreed to by its competitors and may drop CBS unless we agree to those terms.
“CBS would like to avoid being dropped, but unless an agreement is reached, our viewers should be prepared for DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse TV to remove CBS-owned television stations,” CBS said.
AT&T countered that it was disappointed that its customers were being thrust into the negotiations, but said the company was pushing for customer choice and value.
“Our goal is always to deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them,” AT&T said in a statement to Deadline. “We continue to fight hard for that here and appreciate our customers’ patience while we work this out with CBS.”
Major Markets Affected
A blackout would affect CBS’ owned and operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore and CBS network programming on DirecTV Now.
CBS stock closed up 0.29% on Tuesday at $53.51. Shares of AT&T closed down 0.36% at $33.58.
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