DirecTV Customers Could Lose CBS Stations on Friday

Amid ongoing negotiations with Nexstar, resulting in the loss of hundreds of channels for their customers, DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse customers may soon be losing some of CBS’ biggest channels. According to Variety, a carriage agreement between the two companies has not yet been reached, and the channels will go dark come July 19.

“CBS has reached timely, fair agreements with hundreds of other cable, satellite, telco and internet providers to carry our industry-leading, fan-favorite programming,” CBS said in a statement on Tuesday.

“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 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore at 11:00 PM, PT on July 19,” the statement added. “DirecTV Now customers nationwide would lose the CBS Television Network’s hit programming as well.”

In their own statement, AT&T said that they are “disappointed” in the outcome and stated their intentions to “continue to fight hard” to bring the channels back.

“We’re disappointed to see CBS put our customers into the middle of negotiations. AT&T is on the side of customer choice and value and wants to keep the local CBS stations in 14 affected cities in our customers’ lineups,” they said, according to Cord Cutters News. “Our goal is always to deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them. We continue to fight hard for that here and appreciate our customers’ patience while we work this out with CBS.”

The potential loss of CBS stations comes as AT&T is embattled in similar negotiations with Nexstar. On July 4, AT&T subscribers in 97 markets across the United States lost more than 120 stations, including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliate stations.

Addressing the matter, Nexstar claimed that “AT&T/DIRECTV did not accept Nexstar’s offer for an extension” which would have allowed viewers to continue to view the channels. They also claimed that “contrary to AT&T’s public statements, Nexstar in no way pulled its stations or asked for their removal from AT&T/DIRECTV’s DIRECTV, U-verse or DIRECTV NOW platforms.”

In the midst of the channel losses, many stations can be “viewed over the air or online at the station websites.” AT&T is also encouraging its customers to use a free previews of the CBS streaming-video-service CBS All Access, use new apps that allow for streaming of local broadcasts, or to watch the websites of various CBS stations.