After a four-month absence, WCTE returned to DirecTV Wednesday morning.
“It took much longer and more money than we had hoped, but we are extremely grateful that AT&T returned us to channel 22 on DirecTV,” WCTE President Becky Magura said in a statement.
DirecTV customers have only been able to view Nashville Public Television since the beginning of the year. AT&T, which purchased DirecTV in 2014, moved its technical operations to Brentwood late last year.
Unlike other Nashville television stations that could be picked up by DirecTV over-the-air, WCTE had to install new fiber-optic cable into that office. AT&T officials repeatedly argued the signal from Cookeville did not meet its standards, but would not allow anyone access to the facility to troubleshoot the issue.
AT&T officials in Nashville, according to one source, wanted to help with the issue as did several local broadcast engineers in Nashville. Corporate leadership at DirecTV would not allow the help.
At one point, an AT&T spokesman told News Talk 94.1 News that the problem originated because Nashville Public Television owned WCTE. They do not.
“Our entire WCTE family is grateful to Rep. Ryan Williams, Senator Paul Bailey, our partners in local media, at Spectrum, Lite Wire, and PBS as well as the vocal response of the DirecTV customers who made their voices heard,” Magura said in a statement.