ABC channels have been pulled from Lexington TVs amidst DirecTV, Scripps dispute
LEX18 and ABC36 went dark for over 500,000 DirecTV Kentucky users on May 31 as a result of a contract dispute between the cable company and E.W. Scripps Company.
The Lexington media market was one of 36 markets affected by the outage. Nationally, Lexington is the 63rd largest media market in the country serving approximately 517,660 central and eastern Kentuckians during the 2024-25 television season.
The two companies were unable to come to a carriage agreement before their contract expired leaving DirecTV users without Scripps-owned local news networks.
Scripps Local Media, a division of E.W. Scripps Co., is one of the largest ABC affiliates in the country and carries 54 local broadcast stations, after purchasing ABC36 from Morris Network Inc. in March of this year, according to previous Herald-Leader reporting.
If you are a DirecTV user in these Kentucky counties, you are affected:
- Anderson
- Bath
- Bourbon
- Boyle
- Breathitt
- Casey
- Clark
- Clay
- Estill
- Fayette
- Fleming
- Franklin
- Garrard
- Harrison
- Jackson
- Jessamine
- Knott
- Knox
- Laurel
- Lee
- Lincoln
- Madison
- Magoffic
- Menifee
- Mercer
- Montgomery
- Morgan
- Nicholas
- Owsley
- Perry
- Powell
- Pulaski
- Rockcastle
- Rowan
- Russell
- Scott
- Wayne
- Whitley
- Wolfe
- Woodford
What is DirecTV saying about the dispute?
DirecTV declined Scripps’ original contract request in search of what they called a “more reasonable” agreement, but the two companies could not reach a deal that was mutually satisfactory.
“Scripps is demanding the highest rates DIRECTV has ever received from a station group, which would continue to dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses already struggling with affordability,” DirecTV said in a statement.
After DirecTV’s request was declined, Scripps pulled their broadcasts from the cable company.
What is Scripps saying about the dispute?
Scripps CEO Adam Symson said he thinks DirecTV does not care about the work Scripps does in local communities to provide both local news and sports to viewers, according to Awful Announcing.
Though Symson said local sports coverage was not a point of contention in the disagreement, it is something to give their attention to while working toward a resolution.
Previous Scripps and DirecTV disputes
During a now-resolved 35-day carriage dispute, Scripps pulled their local channels from Comcast two months before they pulled channels from DirecTV. The Comcast dispute was resolved May 5, Scripps said in a statement, the same month the DirecTV dispute began.
DirecTV found themselves in a carriage dispute with The Walt Disney Company in September 2024 leaving DirecTV customers without ABC stations, Disney or ESPN, according to CBS.
That dispute was resolved after 13 days agreeing that streaming services Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu would be included in certain DirecTV packages.
What are Lexington TV viewers missing?
The outage came only a few days before Game 1 of the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals, which are exclusively aired on ABC.
ABC36 exclusively broadcasts shows such as “Good Morning America,” “Good Afternoon Kentucky,” “Family Feud” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
It is not clear when the dispute will be resolved.