WKBN, WYFX go dark on DirecTV in contract dispute

YOUNGSTOWN — As of Thursday, some DirecTV customers began seeing blacked-out channels – including Youngstown’s WKBN-TV 27 and WYFX-FOX – where they would usually see local news.

DirecTV and its owner AT&T failed to reach a new deal with telecom company Nexstar, and Nexstar says 120 channels across 97 markets in the U.S. fell blank on Thursday. Instead of showing local news affiliates such as ABC, NBC and FOX, customers saw only a message from DirecTV stating that Nexstar had removed the channel.

Each company is pointing blame at the other for the blackout.

AT&T says it offered Nexstar more money to keep the channels available. Nexstar says it offered AT&T an extension to keep the channels up while negotiations continued, but AT&T dropped the channels.

Many people took to Twitter on the holiday to demand the channels be restored.

Contract disputes between TV stations and providers have become a regular occurrence. WKBN has posted on its website an informational statement that explains the dispute.