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TEGNA (TGNA), DIRECTV End 6-Week Blackout With Carriage Deal

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TEGNA (TGNA - Free Report) and DIRECTV have reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending the programming blackout that began on Nov 30 and affected around five million customers across the United States.

DIRECTV, which was spun off by AT&T in 2021 and is now a privately held entity with 30% ownership by TPG, has nearly 12 million subscribers in the United States across its traditional satellite business, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse cable.

The TEGNA blackout impacted approximately 40% of DIRECTV's customer base, with a significant number of affected stations affiliated with either CBS or National Broadcasting Company (“NBC"). TGNA owns 66 stations in 52 markets, including major designated market areas like Dallas, Phoenix and Denver.

The timing of the agreement, just before the start of the NFL playoffs, suggests that the popularity and anticipated high viewership of the games may have played a role in motivating the parties to reach a resolution.

TEGNA Inc. Price and Consensus

TEGNA Inc. Price and Consensus

TEGNA Inc. price-consensus-chart | TEGNA Inc. Quote

TGNA Navigates the Media Landscape Through Strategic Partnerships

The company is strategically utilizing various platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and others to deliver innovative content to its customers. This approach allows the company to reach a wide audience through different channels.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TEGNA's 2023 revenues is pegged at $2.95 billion, indicating a year-over-year decrease of 10.1%. This decline is attributed to factors like the absence of high-margin political revenues from mid-term elections and an increase in programming expenses. The consensus estimate for the company’s 2023 earnings is pinned at 51 cents per share.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company recognizes the importance of staying competitive in the evolving advertising industry. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

TGNA is investing in developing new ways to connect with local audiences and enhance its digital capabilities. This is crucial in the face of increasing competition from cable companies and Internet platforms.

TEGNA has secured partnerships with major broadcast television networks, such as CBS, ABC and FOX. These collaborations enhance the company's content offerings and strengthen its position in the media industry.

The company recently announced the renewal of the broadcast station affiliation agreement with Comcast’s (CMCSA - Free Report) subsidiary network, NBC.

The multi-year deal renews station affiliation agreements for 20 TEGNA markets, which cover nearly 17% of the total number of U.S. TV households.  

The agreement aims to allow the company to continue providing consumers and advertisers with premium network content, such as TODAY, Sunday Night Football, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, The Voice, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the Summer and Winter Olympic Games alongside local news, weather and sports updates.

The recent multi-year deal renewal with Disney's (DIS - Free Report) ABC network covers affiliations in 13 markets across the United States, representing about 9% of all TV households. This partnership combines ABC's popular programming with TEGNA’s local stations and audience reach.

The company's partnership with Gray Television (GTN - Free Report) is expected to be a key growth driver in expanding the reach of TGNA’s advertising services. Gray Television serves as a reseller of TEGNA’s over-the-top advertising business Premion’s services across its 113 television markets.

In the past three months, shares of TGNA have returned 9.9% compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s 14.8% rise.


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