DirecTV's dispute, whenever it was, with Versus? (Versus has since rebranded as NBC Sports Network.)
Though I give my support, I'm skeptical with DirecTV -- with or without being told of any details of contracts with programmers -- because I sense DirecTV is reluctant to add channels and likes to chalk it up to "savings." Such savings could be the denial of the basic cable channels which should have been carried a couple or few years ago in HD; such savings could refer to a lack of channels any cable operator carries that are part of a bundled pack, from a company like Viacom, which are not that significant in costs. Last year the only basic cable channel added in HD was AMC HD; yet, the bill for a basic cable package went up. As has been the routine. It goes up every February or March regardless.
I never understood why G4 had to go a few years ago. (None of my other area providers -- and ones outside of my area but in my teleivision market -- dumped that channel. It's owned by Comcast. And the lineup is filled with other Comcast/NBC Universal programming.) I never understood why DirecTV -- and, for that matter, Dish Network -- never added all channels from VH1, CMT, MTV, and BET. (Cable operators have had them for years. Probably more than 10 years.)
This dispute against Viacom would be more disappointing to me if it turns out DirecTV doesn't add anything more than what was in its lineup before the signals were pulled. If DirecTV returns those "26" (cough!) without, for example, TV Land HD, I will be disappointed.
