Some fans in the Cleveland market will find it more difficult to watch the Browns’ playoff game with the Houston Texans on Saturday.
The Browns-Texans game, kicking off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 13, will be blacked out for DirecTV subscribers in Cleveland. This is due to a carriage dispute between DirecTV and Tegna, which owns Cleveland’s NBC affiliate WKYC.
Tegna’s affiliates were pulled on DirecTV at the end of November, with the carriage dispute now running for over a month. Subscribers in Cleveland and other markets across the country haven’t been able to watch Tegna-owned networks on DirecTV throughout December and into January.
In addition to the Cleveland NBC affiliate, Tegna-owned stations include the Dallas ABC affiliate, CBS affiliates in San Diego, Washington D.C., and Tampa, and NBC affiliates in Denver and Seattle, among others.
Impacted subscribers in Cleveland have several options, including switching to another cable, satellite, or streaming provider. The Browns-Texans game on Saturday can also be streamed with a subscription to Peacock or NFL+.
During the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend, no home markets aside from Cleveland will be blacked out of their team’s playoff game. However, come the Divisional round, some fanbases could be in a similar position as Browns fans this weekend. Tegna owns the Buffalo NBC affiliate, the Houston CBS affiliate, and the Dallas ABC affiliate, which could all air games involving their respective local team. Tegna also owns seven Fox affiliates, which will air the NFC Championship, and 15 CBS affiliates, which will air both the AFC Championship and Super Bowl.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.