No contract agreement for DirecTV, Tribune

DirecTV Inc. subscribers in New York and 18 other markets have lost access to several programs, after Tribune Broadcasting said it failed to reach a settlement with the satellite television provider in their contract negotiations.

Tribune Broadcasting said late Saturday in a statement that without a deal in place, DirecTV was barred by federal law from carrying the signal of Tribune's local television stations after midnight, when their agreement expired.

Other large affected markets include Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia. TV programs turned off include "American Idol," "Gossip Girl," and Major League Baseball, depending on who owns local affiliates that carry the shows.

New York subscribers aren't receiving station PIX11. Tribune president Nils Larsen called the situation "extremely unfortunate."

In its statement, DirecTV said it had hoped Tribune would allow its programming to remain during negotiations. But as it struck midnight in each time zone, Tribune channels carried by DirecTV went blank.

Earlier, DirecTV said that it had accepted the financial terms that Tribune's management offered it by telephone two days ago. But Tribune said shortly afterward that there was no deal.

DirecTV fired back, saying in another statement that it had a handshake deal with Tribune on Thursday.-- AP