INDReporter

KATC returns to DIRECTV

The Cordillera Broadcasting-owned ABC affiliate has returned to the satellite television provider after the two sides hammered out an agreement on the retransmission fee paid by DIRECTV.

The “shakedown” has ended — that’s how DIRECTV characterized a bid by Cordillera Broadcasting to get a bigger retransmission fee from the satellite TV provider, a dispute that led to 10 Cordillera-owned stations in seven states including local ABC affiliate KATC TV3 disappearing from DIRECTV for more than a week. The blackout affected half a million DIRECTV customers in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, California, Texas and Montana.

According to a weekend press release issued by a DIRECTV spokesman, the company fast-tracked its NBC affiliates on Saturday so customers could catch in progress the NFL playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens.