Millions of DirecTV subscribers no longer have access to Newsmax programming after the AT&T-owned satellite giant and the conservative news network failed to reach a new carriage deal.
The official deadline passed at midnight on Tuesday. As a result, Newsmax’s programs went to a blackout for more than 13 million customers of the satellite service, as well as those using DirecTV Stream and fiber-based AT&T U-Verse.
DirecTV described the dispute as a financial one, accusing Newsmax of demanding a fee to broadcast programs that are available on free-streaming platforms.
“On multiple occasions, we made it clear to Newsmax that we wanted to continue to offer the network, but ultimately Newsmax’s demands for rate increases would have led to significantly higher costs that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base,” a DirecTV spokesperson said in a statement….