DirecTV Blocks Customers From Watching Major Awards Show

DirecTV customers were not happy on Sunday when they realized they could not watch the 2024 Golden Globe Awards live. DirecTV is currently in a contract dispute with TEGNA Inc., a media conglomerate that owns many local broadcast channels around the U.S. – including several that carry CBS. The two companies were at odds just in time to block many customers from watching one of the biggest live events of awards show season.

DirecTV customers flocked to social media in a panic on Sunday night when they realized that they didn't have access to the Golden Globes. The award show broadcast live on CBS, but at the time DirecTV was not showing the local CBS channel in some markets. Customers were confused and frustrated, knowing that CBS is not an exclusive cable channel. DirecTV customer service responded to many posts with more information about the company's ongoing dispute with TEGNA, but that did little to assuage customers. To them, this explanation was arbitrary and made them feel like they were caught in the middle of a battle that didn't dispute them.

Hi, Mrs. Drakes. We understand your concern about losing a local station for any period of time. We continue to work to deliver our customers greater choice and value while shielding them from unwarranted price hikes as we work with TEGNA. More: https://t.co/wE0zc5Irnd ^ArianeF

— DIRECTV Help (@DIRECTVhelp) January 8, 2024

DirecTV's website has a special landing page about the dispute with TEGNA, explaining DirecTV's side of the story. It says that TEGNA "hopes to use fans' loyalty to favorite NFL playoff teams to force everyone to pay lots more to keep any 'free' over-the-air TEGNA stations for the next few years." This blackout has been going on since November, and there's no telling when it may end.

Tegna was created in 2015 when the older version of the Gannett Company split up into two publicly traded corporations. Tegna took the more profitable of the companies while the rest went to a new company that was still called Gannett. In addition to broadcast channels, Tegna owns digital media assets and other properties such as Cars.com. The company reported $3.28 billion in revenue in 2022.

As for DirecTV, the company has been around since 1994 as a "multichannel video programming distributor." It began as a satellite service company but also provides traditional linear TV service without the need for an external satellite dish. was acquired by AT&T in 2015 but was then spun off into its own company once again in 2021. It has nearly 16 million subscribers around the U.S.

This is what I get for living in the ice ages. @DIRECTV is in a contract dispute with CBS so I CAN’T SEE #GoldenGlobes

— Judith Browne Dianis (@jbrownedianis) January 8, 2024

Many frustrated customers on Sunday wondered why they still bothered with a full-on cable or satellite package when a streaming service seemed more straightforward. That may be debatable, but it's true that the Golden Globes were available to stream live on Paramount+ this weekend. For DirecTV customers without access to TEGNA-owned channels, a streaming subscription may be the simplest solution to access some content right now.