Another satellite retransmission consent fight has been resolved. KXJB-TV (CBS) Fargo was returned to the DirecTV local-to-local service in time for basketball fans to see Friday’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance by the North Dakota State University Bison. The CBS tournament coverage will continue to be available to satellite subscribers, but without the Bison. They lost 84-74 to the Kansas Jayhawks.
As is usual in these circumstances, no details of the settlement were announced. KXJB had been off DirecTV since the previous agreement expired the beginning of this year.
In a note on the station website, General Manager Charley Johnson said KXJB was happy to have the dispute resolved and apologized to viewers for the inconvenience. He said negotiators for Parker Broadcasting and DirecTV “worked overtime” to get the retrans deal done in time for the Friday basketball game.
The retrans dispute did not affect Hoak Media’s KVLY-TV, the market’s NBC affiliate, also managed by Johnson.
