This is great news for consumers but very bad news for companies like Nexstar, Tegna, and others.

Stream TV Insider reports that DirecTV is quietly testing a national feed of NBC.

The site says that some DirecTV customers were able to watch a national programming feed of NBC in areas where the local affiliate has been unavailable for weeks due to a prolonged dispute with Tegna.

This is basically cutting companies like Nexstar and Tegna off at the knees.

If DirecTV and the other cable companies have access to the national feed for networks, it basically means when those companies get into a greedy retransmission fight, viewers will still be able to watch the network.

Here’s an example: If a Tegna NBC affiliate gets into a retrans fight with say DirecTV, the satellite company will still be able to offer NBC’s network signal to viewers.

This means viewers will still be able to watch NBC shows and live sports events but will not be able to watch the local Tegna station’s newscasts or local programming.

Most viewers show little care about missing out on the news and care much more about sports and NBC prime-time programming.

Because DirecTV will still be able to provide that to the customer, Tegna will not be able to play hardball in their demands for more money.

This is a huge deal, and it could keep cable and sat bills from rising a the fast rate in which they have.