Gray is the latest broadcaster to demand unreasonable price increases during a retransmission negotiation with Verizon – threatening to remove customers’ favorite TV channels from their cable lineup.

Thousands of Verizon subscribers in Richmond, VA could face missing channels in the coming days.

Gray is using its size and massive channel holdings to force providers like Verizon – and, therefore, consumers – to pay higher fees by threatening to remove local channels in a half-dozen major markets unless their demands are met.

For nearly two decades, broadcasters like Gray have been charging cable and satellite providers and their customers unreasonably high fees to access local stations. Broadcasters often remove their channels from consumers until TV providers agree to pay more – even though the same channels are available for free over the air. Over the last decade, consumers across the nation have faced more than 1,500 broadcast TV blackouts; all while broadcasters have collected billions in retransmission fees.

It’s time for our leaders at the FCC and in Congress to protect consumers by holding them – and other broadcasters who frequently use this tactic – accountable.