I want my KOAT
Viewers miss start of ‘Bachelor’ season as KOAT and DirecTV wrangle over new deal
A hotly anticipated season of “The Bachelor” commenced Monday night, but many of the show’s Albuquerque fans did not see contestant Nick Viall’s introduction to 30 potential brides.
Some local TV viewers also missed the ball-drop climax of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” broadcast and Florida’s victory over Iowa in Monday’s Outback Bowl.
That’s because DIRECTV is not currently offering local ABC affiliate station KOATTV, since the satellite provider and KOAT’s parent company, Hearst Television, have not reached terms on a new carriage agreement.
The stalemate meant DIRECTV subscribers lost access to KOAT on Saturday night — and now each party is blaming the other.
KOAT-TV General Manager Mary Lynn Roper said in a statement that DIRECTV “is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable given the significant investments we have made to deliver top-tier programming to our viewers.”
The satellite provider, meanwhile, fired back that Hearst is “preventing its signal from reaching (DIRECTV customers’) homes unless they receive a significant increase in fees just to allow the same families to keep watching shows that remain available for free over-the-air on channel 7 and that ABC typically streams for free at abc.com and to fans using the WatchABC app.”
A spokesman from DIRECTV parent AT&T said the parties are still actively negotiating.
The dispute between Hearst and DIRECTV affected stations across the country, from Baltimore to Sacramento. Hearst has local television and radio stations in 26 media markets, according to a news release, including some NBC and CBS affiliates.
Such wrangling is not unprecedented. DISH Network temporarily dropped KOAT in 2014 over carriage agreement negotiations.
DIRECTV would not say how many subscribers it has in Albuquerque, but social media revealed a litany of complaints from them. Some directed their frustration at the satellite provider, while others called out KOAT.
“No ABC @DIRECTV? Really? Why do I pay for tv if local channels are gonna be blocked out? Maybe I should cancel my contract! #WastingMyMoney” wrote Twitter user @Vorrhex.
“I guess ABC’s KOAT Channel 7 does not care about us any longer. It is not available through DirecTV. Goodbye ABC, hello CBS LOL!” @ tonytezak posted on Twitter.
Dozens of viewers also chimed in with questions and gripes on KOAT’s Facebook page.
Viewers can still access KOAT over the air for free, according to a news release from Hearst. The company is directing viewers to the website www.antennaweb.org for questions about what type of antenna is needed.