WJAX TV, Jacksonville’s CBS affiliate, today announced that despite extensive efforts by the station’s owner, Bayshore Television, LLC, to avoid a service interruption, it appears likely that AT&T U-Verse and DIRECTV will stop carrying the station starting at Midnight Eastern Standard Time on New Year’s Eve.
As a result, WJAX will no longer be seen by AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV subscribers as of this Saturday January 1, 2017.
“It is truly disappointing that after repeated efforts to resolve this issue well before now a disruption in service to AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV subscribers is unfortunately at hand” said Bruce Baker, Bayshore Television Manager.
“As far back as last fall we reached out to AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV so we could avoid this situation. Our attempts at reaching an agreement prior to Saturday’s deadline did not work out. We understand how frustrating this is for our viewers and hoped a mutual concern would lead both sides to respect their feelings. That does not appear to be the case. We have successfully reached agreement with several video providers of WJAX content. At this point, every distributor besides AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV has reached a long-term agreement with us. AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV is the lone holdout” Baker pointed out.
WJAXTV is the Jacksonville affiliate of the CBS network and the home of Action News Jax, known for award-winning news, sports, entertainment, weather and traffic programming. The station has been in negotiations with AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV to renew the current Retransmission Consent Agreement between the parties which expires at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Retransmission consent allows AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV and other video providers to air programming shown on WJAX and other local stations. As part of retransmission consent video providers agree to pay a fee for the use of the local station signal. Local stations use those fees to offset the cost of program acquisition and scheduling.
While avoiding specifics, according to Baker Bayshore is asking for a fraction of what AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV pays for national networks like ESPN and regional sports networks. The company believes their pricing is in line with usual and customary charges for such services and can show ratings for WJAX are much higher than channels receiving considerably more from AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV.
"It is fair to note that AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV gladly pays very high fees for channels offering no local news, no information about local school closings, have few or no local employees, and offer nowhere near the same high-quality, compelling programming that we provide. The fees cable and satellite companies pay us go to pay for these important local services. And unlike AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV, Bayshore Television and WJAX-TV are deeply ingrained in the local community. When hurricane Matthew struck Jacksonville recently AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV subscribers and many other local viewers turned to Action News Jax to stay informed and safe throughout the storm".
As it stands now, AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV's rights to carry WJAX will expire at Midnight on New Year's Eve.
WJAX programming will remain available to viewers free over the air. This dispute will not affect customers of any video provider other than AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV.
Baker pointed out he is hopeful that the sides can reach a resolution before the New Year’s Eve deadline and that discussions continue.
“But in all fairness to, and out of respect for WJAX/Action News Jax viewers who subscribe to AT&T U-Verse/DIRECTV, we wanted to get this message out.
For updates and more information viewers can visit www.actionnewsjax.com.
Cox Media Group
