Tegna, which owns dozens of local affiliate channels, on Wednesday said it renewed its affiliation agreement with Comcast-owned NBC for 20 of its stations.
The new multi-year deal applies to markets that cover more than 21 million households. Tegna said it’s the largest independent owner of NBC affiliates, and that 10 of them are in the top 25 markets for the network.
The deal comes as those NBC channels — as well as its other ABC, CBS, and FOX affiliates — are dark throughout the country for DIRECTV customers. The two companies have been locked in a dispute for months, leading to a blackout that began at the end of November.
Blackouts have become increasingly common over the last few years. Just last year, two high-profile dispute — one between Charter Communications and Disney and a second between DIRECTV and Nexstar — led to blackouts, with the Nexstar-DIRECTV one last months.