Blackouts Target Football Games Most Frequently, ATVA Says; NAB Calls That Ironic
Live college and professional football games are “the most frequently targeted” for blackouts during retransmission consent battles, said the American Television Alliance. “Blackouts in 2017 reached a record high of 213, breaking the previous calendar year record set in 2015…
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of 193.” There have been 83 blackouts this year, said the group of MVPDs and others seeking retransmission-consent rule changes." The irony of ATVA lamenting infrequent loss of broadcast sports programming is especially rich in light of Big Pay TV’s never-ending blackout of Los Angeles Dodger baseball games that’s lasted nearly five years," an NAB spokesperson said Friday. "Broadcasters have every incentive to keep our programming on pay TV platforms, as evidenced by the fact that 99 percent of all retransmission consent deals end without a disruption.”