DirecTV and U-verse customers around the U.S. woke up Saturday morning without access to CBS, the most-watched broadcast network in the country, after a breakdown in contract negotiations between the network and Dallas-based AT&T.

The two parties failed to reach an agreement on the price of CBS channels by 1 a.m. Saturday, causing CBS to be pulled from DirecTV, U-verse and DirecTV Now customers in more than a dozen markets, ranging from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles and including Dallas-Fort Worth.

"We want the CBS-owned-and-operated local broadcast stations in our lineup," AT&T said in a statement. "Yet customers today are demanding more choice and value from their local stations. Instead, it has become clear to us that CBS is intent on blacking out any home that chooses to receive cable or satellite service, antagonizing its most loyal viewers."

The blackout comes after contract negotiations spilled into the public's view this week with a series of harshly worded statements from both CBS and AT&T.

At issue: 'retransmission fee'

CBS had wanted an increase in the price — known as a retransmission fee — that AT&T pays for the network's content, AT&T said in a statement Friday. CBS said the expired deal for its channels was signed in 2012 and is below current market rate.

"CBS has reached timely, fair agreements with hundreds of other cable, satellite, telco and internet providers to carry our industry-leading, fan-favorite programming," CBS said in a prepared statement. "AT&T, however, continues to propose unfair terms well below those agreed to by its competitors and may drop CBS unless we agree to those terms."

In Dallas-Fort Worth, CBS owns KTVT-TV (Channel 11) and KTXA-TV (Channel 21), putting both channels in the crossfire.

There was no word Saturday on how long the blackout could last.

The blackout could affect football season for customers, as CBS stations carry both NFL and college games throughout the fall. CBS viewership typically rises with the start of football season.

CBS has been trying to increase its retransmission fee revenue so it can be less dependent on advertising. CBS is also preparing to enter negotiations with the NFL, which will likely require the New York-based network to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more to continue broadcasting NFL games, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 2013, Time Warner Cable was forced to agree to a large increase in fees paid to CBS after the network blacked out its channels a month before the start of football season.

CBS has been trying to increase its retransmission fee revenue so it can be less dependent on advertising. It also anticipates having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more to continue broadcasting NFL games. (Andrew Burton / Getty Images)

AT&T said it asked CBS to let it carry the CBS All Access streaming service but was rebuffed, even though Roku and Amazon offer the service.

AT&T is recommending that customers in affected markets find CBS content over the air or on CBS.com.

There is no word on how long the blackout could last.

"AT&T's willingness to deprive its customers of valuable content has become routine over the last few weeks and months, and recent negotiations have regularly resulted in carriage disputes, blackouts and popular channels being removed from their service," the CBS statement said.

The last straw for some

For Lauren Escalante, the CBS blackout is the last straw.

"We watch CBS daily, often times multiple times a day," said Escalante, a resident of Hillsboro. "We have been having issues with DirecTV's pricing since the end of May, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back for us."

Escalante said she and her husband will cancel their service with DirecTV on Monday but doesn't necessarily blame either CBS or AT&T more than the other for the blackout.

"It's sad that grown-ups in charge can't act like grown-ups," she said.

AT&T has been trying to limit costs and stem subscriber losses after its purchase of Time Warner Inc., a deal that forced the Dallas-based company to take on tremendous debt. (Carly Geraci / 2018 File Photo)

AT&T has blacked out programming from its lineups before as a result of contract disputes. The company is also involved in contract negotiations with Irving-based Nexstar Media Group, impacting DirecTV customers across the nation. Nexstar stations, which include local affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and The CW, have been blacked out since July 3.

Concern in Congress

The AT&T-Nexstar conflict has drawn congressional attention, with lawmakers from Texas and eight other states, including U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, calling on the companies to end the blackout.

Fights between TV networks and distributors are becoming more common as each side suffers from declining subscriptions to satellite and cable amid the rise of streaming services. U.S. pay-TV operators lost 1.4 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2019, the worst loss on record, Bloomberg News reported.

According to the Los Angeles Times, AT&T is also trying to limit costs after its purchase of programming company Time Warner Inc., which forced it to take on a massive debt to finance the acquisition. AT&T lost 627,000 customers in the first quarter of this year, Bloomberg reported.

In its statement, AT&T said such blackouts could be eliminated if networks would engage in "good faith negotiations."

"Our goal is simple: to deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them," the company said. "We continue to fight for that here and appreciate our customers' patience."