Verizon subscribers in the Washington, D.C. area, Norfolk, Harrisburg, and Buffalo are missing channels after TEGNA pulled its signal in these major markets.

TEGNA is using its size and massive channel holdings to force providers like Verizon – and, therefore, consumers – to pay higher fees by removing local channels in major markets until their demands are met.

For nearly two decades, broadcasters like TEGNA 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 2,100+ broadcast TV blackouts, all while broadcasters have collected billions in retransmission fees.

This blackout marks TEGNA’s fifth major blackout across the country in recent years, including:

• A blackout of 66 stations in 52 markets for DIRECTV customers in December of 2023.
• A blackout for Verizon customers across the four U.S. markets, including major cities, D.C., and New York in January of 2022.
• A blackout of nearly 3 million DISH TV customers’ local channels across 53 U.S. markets starting in October 2021.
• A blackout of Mediacom customers which started in January 2021 and lasted over a year.

Congress and leaders at the FCC must prioritize protecting consumers and reforming the video marketplace.