WPXI-TV and its associated channels – PCNC, ME-TV and Laff — returned to Verizon’s FiOS TV lineup Saturday night after being pulled on Wednesday.
Details of the multi-year deal were not available.
The restoration of WPXI to Verizon comes a day after WTAE and AT&T’s DirecTV reached an impasse in renegotiating retransmission consent and Channel 4 disappeared from DirecTV or AT&T TV Now. On Tuesday night, Comcast dropped WPXI’s PCNC cable channel.
The 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act requires cable and satellite operators to get permission from commercial broadcasters to carry their channels and also allows broadcasters to ask cable/satellite operators for payment for carrying their channels. If the cable/satellite operator rejects that proposal, the station can pull its signal. Sometimes the cable company opts to remove the channel.
When local stations get pulled off cable/satellite lineups, the stations remain available over the air via antenna but due to Western Pennsylvania’s hilly terrain, viewers’ ability to get the signals likely depend on their location.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Read the Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook.
First Published: January 5, 2020, 1:06 a.m.
