Whether you watch the news every morning or you're catching the latest House of the Dragon episode, television is an important part of many of our daily lives. But with so many TV providers out there, it's not always certain that you're going to be able to watch your favorite shows. Streaming services routinely drop movies and shows from their platforms, while cable and satellite providers often switch up their lineups. Now, Americans using one popular TV provider will likely have to prepare for a major adjustment this week. Read on to find out if you're going to be losing 15 channels on Friday.
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Watching TV is still a preferred pastime for most Americans.
Yes, watching TV remains the national pastime. A 2022 survey of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by OnePoll on behalf of the streaming service Philo found that watching television is the most-used relaxation method among Americans, per Newsweek. According to the survey, 55 percent of all respondents say they turn on their TV to reduce anxiety or stress. And more than half said they particularly seek out "comfort" TV shows that they watch regularly.
"It may have something to do with the reward centers in your brain," Natalie King, PhD, a brain health expert and neuroscientist, told Newsweek. "Watching your favorite TV series can encourage the release of dopamine, which creates a sense of euphoria."
But if you rely on television, you'll want to make sure that your TV provider isn't getting rid of any of your favorite channels.
This popular provider is planning to drop 15 channels.
ShutterstockCustomers who use one popular TV provider might find their favorite channels missing later this week. In a statement released on its website, Verizon warned that its Fios TV service is nearing a potential change with the major TV broadcasting and digital media company Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
"Our contract with Nexstar ends on Oct. 14, 2022 and your Fios TV package contains Nexstar channels," Verizon said. According to the statement, Verizon is "working hard to negotiate" a new agreement with Nexstar once the contact expires. But that doesn't seem to be going well so far.
Verizon said Nexstar is proposing a massive rate increase.
The issue between Verizon and Nexstar boils down to cost. According to the company's original statement, Nexstar has proposed a price hike of 64 percent for its programming in order to sign a new contract. "Verizon remains committed to making these channels available to our customers, but simply cannot agree to such unreasonable increases," the company explained.
A Verizon spokesperson told The Daily Beast that this kind of "unacceptable rate increase" was part of a pattern from Nexstar. "For nearly two decades, broadcasters like Nexstar have been charging cable and satellite providers—and their customers—unreasonably high fees to access local stations," the spokesperson said. "Broadcasters often remove their channels from consumers until TV providers agree to pay more—even though the same channels are available for free over the air."
But Nexstar spokesperson Gary Weitman defended the company's proposal to the news outlet. "Nexstar is simply seeking fair market rates for the live sports, local news, and high-quality entertainment programming we provide to millions of viewers across the country," Weitman told The Daily Beast.
These channels are now at risk of being dropped.
iStockMore than 15 different channels could be dropped from Verizon's Fios TV due to the conflict. According to the tech company's website, there are two national channels at risk: NewsNation and NewsNation HD. Customers in the metro areas of Norfolk, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Silver Spring, Maryland; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Freehold, New Jersey; Buffalo, New York; Queens, New York; Greenwich, Connecticut; Syracuse, New York; Albany, New York; and Providence, Rhode Island would also lose popular channels, including local CBS, ABC, CW, NBC, and Fox stations.
"We have been working for some time to come to fair terms with Nexstar and will continue to work diligently to reach a fair agreement on behalf of our customers as we will not stand for this," the Verizon spokesperson told The Daily Beast. "If Nexstar does not agree to fair terms by Oct. 14, 2022, their stations may temporarily be removed from Fios."
While no compromise has yet been met, Weitman tol The Daily Beast, "We have a long track record of negotiating fairly and avoiding service interruptions in our markets and we hope to reach agreement with Verizon FiOS. We don’t want the viewers in our local markets to miss any of this weekend’s college or NFL football games, or any of the other valuable programming we provide.”
