As the New England Patriots prepare for the Super Bowl, DirecTV subscribers in Boston are fretting over a potential blackout of the game.
Sunbeam Television, which owns Boston NBC-affiliate WHDH, is currently locked in a retrans battle with DirecTV and has pulled its stations from the popular satellite service until a new agreement is reached. Now the stakes have been significantly raised for the negotiations with the Super Bowl less than two weeks away.
The stakes are now so high that Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown sent a letter to both Sunbeam and DirecTV last week, urging them to come to an agreement before the Super Bowl, according to The Boston Globe.
“It is outrageous that subscribers would pay hundreds of dollars a year for service and not get to watch the Super Bowl, the biggest television event of the year,” Brown wrote.
While Boston DirecTV subscribers–many of whom purchased the service for its “NFL Sunday Ticket” package–may be envisioning a Super Bowl Sunday without the big game, they can find hope in the fact that Sunbeam declared a one-day truce last Sunday, returning its Miami Fox-affiliate, WSVN, to DirecTV for the NFC Championship Game.