Fans in Houston may not see this weekend's Texans game against the Colts on the CBS affiliateGETTY IMAGES
A carriage dispute between AT&T and media company Tegna could keep major sporting events off the air in some of the country's biggest markets, including preventing Houston-area residents "from watching Sunday's Colts-Texans game and Saturday's Alabama-LSU game," according to David Barron of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The AT&T-Tegna "retransmission rate dispute ... affects viewers in 51 markets." Houston-based KHOU-CBS was among the stations that "went dark on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse last night" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/2). In Dallas, Dom DiFurio notes Tegna owns "at least 12 stations in Texas ... serving about 87% of the state" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/2).
ONE DEAL REACHED: In Pittsburgh, Jason Mackey notes Verizon Fios customers "will be able to watch AT&T SportsNet after all," as the two companies have "reached a long-term agreement to relaunch" the RSN to customers in the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg areas. Verizon dropped AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh in early October "after the agreement between the two parties expired on Sept. 30." The RSN issued its own statement, saying that it "disagreed with how Verizon characterized the negotiations but did not wish to elaborate" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/2).
