After a standoff of more than four months, seven American Spirit Media network affiliates have been restored to AT&T’s DirecTV and U-verse platforms.
“AT&T and American Spirit Media reached a new agreement that resulted in American Spirit’s WUPW-FOX returning to Toledo’s DirecTV and U-verse customers’ homes,” an AT&T Ohio spokesman emailed local Toledo, Ohio, paper The Blade.
“We’re pleased to be back on the air with DirecTV and AT&T U-verse,” added Patrick Donnelly, general manager of WUPW.
For DirecTV, the broadcast retransmission licensing impasse affected not only WUPW, but also WUPV-TV in Richmond, Virgina; WDBD-TV in Jackson, Mississippi; WXTX-TV in Columbus, Georgia; WSFX-TV and KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas; and KVHP-TV Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Meanwhile, the U-verse blackout impacted WXTX, WDBD, WUPW, and WSFX.
RELATED: AT&T fires back at American Spirit, says broadcasters are doing the blacking out
The blackout started back on Sept. 21.
“American Spirit has blocked its stations from reaching different providers’ customers before and also threatened to disconnect others,” AT&T said in a statement at the time. “We have asked American Spirit repeatedly to allow our customers to watch while we work this business matter out privately, but American Spirit continues to refuse. All American Spirit needs to do is grant its permission, and we can have its stations back into our customers’ homes within moments. Our goal is to resolve this matter quickly and reasonably, and we appreciate our DirecTV and U-verse customers’ patience while we attempt just that.”