Scripps dispute blocks Golden Knights' Stanley Cup game on DIRECTV
The Vegas Golden Knights pose for a photo with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after they defeat the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1, in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Photo by: Wade Vandervort
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 | 12:17 p.m.
Millions of DIRECTV customers across the country, including viewers in Las Vegas, lost access to dozens of local broadcast stations Monday after a retransmission consent dispute between E.W. Scripps Local Media and the satellite provider.
Scripps blacked out 54 stations in 36 Nielsen designated market areas on DIRECTV’s satellite, streaming and U-verse services as of May 31, after what DIRECTV described as record fee demands from the broadcaster. The blackout affects ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, MNT and TMO affiliates.
For Las Vegas viewers, the timing couldn’t be worse. Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes begins tonight on ABC — which is blacked out for local DIRECTV customers on Channel 13, the local ABC affiliate.
The American Television Alliance, a coalition of pay-TV providers, condemned the blackout in a statement Monday.
“Scripps is the latest major broadcaster to black out local TV stations in an attempt to extract higher fees, blocking signals and programming from dozens of communities while demanding steep retransmission consent increases that force viewers to pay more for the same ‘free’ programming,” said Hunter Wilson, the spokesperson for the American Television Alliance.
The blackout also comes as the NBA Finals get underway and ahead of the FIFA World Cup on U.S. soil, the U.S. Open golf tournament and several state and local elections in June.
It isn’t the first disruption Scripps has caused for pay-TV customers this year.
In April, the company pulled 40 stations from Comcast Xfinity in 19 markets, leaving those customers without service for more than a month.
In addition to Las Vegas, the current DIRECTV blackout affects customers in Baltimore; Boise, Idaho; Buffalo, N.Y.; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Denver; Detroit; Lexington, K.Y.; Miami; Milwaukee; Nashville, Tenn.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; Tampa-St. Petersburg; and West Palm Beach, Fla., among other markets.
The American Television Alliance said it is urging Congress to update retransmission consent regulations, which the group says allow broadcasters to repeatedly use blackouts as leverage to drive up fees paid by pay-TV providers.