CBS stations may be dropped from DirecTV, U-verse Network blames ‘unfair terms’ of AT&T’s proposal

CBS is warning that the network might be dropped from AT&T’s DirecTV and U-verse systems unless the two companies reach a new agreement over programming fees by Friday.

The network issued a statement this week blaming AT&T for proposing “unfair terms well below those agreed to by its competitors” and saying viewers should be prepared to lose CBS-owned stations in a number of major markets, including MiamiDade and Broward, where the network is broadcast on WFOR-Ch. 4.

“AT&T’s willingness to deprive its customers of valuable content has become routine over the last few weeks and months, and recent negotiations have regularly resulted in carriage disputes, blackouts and popular channels being removed from their service,” the statement said.

The statement recommends concerned viewers take action by going to the website keepcbs.com. The site includes links to post protests on Facebook and Twitter, as well as a phone number that connects callers to AT&T.

A banner ad on WFORTV’s website also links to the keepcbs.com site. The ad warns viewers they could soon lose its station as well as WBFS-Ch. 33, which is owned by the CBS Television Stations affiliate of CBS and carries the MyNetworkTV service owned by Fox Corp.

If the stations are blacked out, many area viewers will be able to access WFOR’s broadcast signal with an antenna, depending on its strength, location and proximity to the station’s transmission tower near Miami International Airport.

AT&T has countered with its own statement saying that fees local broadcast station owners charge distributors have doubled in the past five years, despite prime time audiences falling by half as viewers migrate to streaming content.

“They continue to give their signals away for free but also demand unsustainably growing fees for allowing customers the convenience of receiving their channels in a usual program guide or without switching an input,” the statement said.

West Palm Beach’s CBS affiliate, WPEC-Ch. 12, is owned by a separate company, Sinclair Broadcasting, and is not subject to a blackout, according to Mike Pumo, WPEC’s general manager.

So far this year, more than 200 station blackouts have occurred in disputes between broadcasters and carriers, AT&T’s statement added. About 120 stations owned by Nexstar Media Group have been blacked out for about two weeks on AT&T’s platforms amid a similar dispute. None of the blackedout Nexstar stations are in South Florida.

But South Florida viewers have been caught in the middle of other disputes. In January 2016, Miami Fox affiliate WSVN-Ch. 7 disappeared from AT&T’s U-verse system for four weeks during the NFL playoffs. Less than eight months later, WSVN was blacked out on DirecTV for more than two weeks.