DIRECTV reaches deal with Tribune (Or maybe not!)

[Scott Greczkowski]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DIRECTV said today that it has accepted financial terms Tribune's management offered to it by phone on Thursday, March 29 at 3:30 PM EST, to carry their 23 local broadcast stations to ensure customers do not lose their programming when the agreement with Tribune expires tonight at midnight.

"We accept the rate proposal Tribune set forth on Thursday for the local channels and look forward to completing this agreement," said Dan Hartman, senior vice president of Programming. "While we have been negotiating in good faith for two months, we believe Tribune's viewers and our customers are best served by making sure the local stations remain on our service without disruption first and will then negotiate a separate agreement for WGN America."

About DIRECTV

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is one of the world's leading providers of digital television entertainment services delivering a premium video experience through state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming and industry leading customer service to 32 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its 19.9 million customers access to more than 170 HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound, access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, Emmy- award winning technology and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for 11 years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to 12 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks (Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 60 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please visit www.directv.com.

 

[Mr Tony]

huh imagine that. Like I said in the other thread when folks were worried "much to do about nothing"

This is what the difference is between Directv and Dish. Directv gets it done. Dish just drops it

 

[charper1]

huh imagine that. Like I said in the other thread when folks were worried "much to do about nothing" This is what the difference is between Directv and Dish. Directv gets it done. Dish just drops it

and sadly, for all the contract hard-line posturing and headaches for subscribers; their prices aren't that much better if at all overall for what you get at the end of the day.!!

 

[Mariah2014]

It's not over yet though because WGN America is not part of that agreement. They still may remove it tonight.

 

[charper1]

let WGN go... its nice and all, but.................... it's TNT or TBS with CHI area aports

 

[whitewolf8214]

huh imagine that. Like I said in the other thread when folks were worried "much to do about nothing"

This is what the difference is between Directv and Dish. Directv gets it done. Dish just drops it

amen ice +1

 

[whitewolf8214]

and sadly, for all the contract hard-line posturing and headaches for subscribers; their prices aren't that much better if at all overall for what you get at the end of the day.!!

+1

 

[digiblur]

I can "move" to NOLA with no worries now

 

[Mariah2014]

http://www.wgntv.com/

Tribune Broadcasting has not reached an agreement or come to terms with DIRECTV on any aspect of its contract, which expires at midnight tonight. Any statement by DIRECTV to the contrary is inaccurate and misleading. DIRECTV subscribers will likely lose WGN-TV at midnight tonight. Click here to tell DIRECTV you want to keep WGN Sports, WGN News, the CW and all your favorite shows. Time is running out!

Tribune Statement On DirecTV Negotiations - MarketWatch
[h=1]Tribune Statement On DirecTV Negotiations[/h]

CHICAGO, March 31, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Tribune Broadcasting released the following statement regarding its negotiations with DirecTV:
"Tribune Broadcasting has not reached an agreement or come to terms with DirecTV on any aspect of its contract, which expires at midnight tonight. Any statement by DirecTV to the contrary is inaccurate and misleading."
TRIBUNE is one of the country's leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing, and interactive. The company's broadcasting group owns or operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago's WGN-AM. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience.
SOURCE Tribune Broadcasting
Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

 

[Mariah2014]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118052128
DirecTV, Tribune tussle over deal
Companies in dispute on carriage agreement as contract deadline nears
By Cynthia Littleton
DirecTV and Tribune Broadcasting are sparring over whether the companies have come to a carriage agreement for Tribune's 23 stations.

DirectTV issued a statement Saturday morning indicating that the sides had reached a deal. But Tribune later disputed that characterization.

The sides have been in negotiations for the past few days to beat a midnight Saturday expiration of its previous contract.

The companies have been wrangling for months over a new retransmission consent agreement covering Tribune-owned stations and WGN America to replace a contract that expired at midnight tonight. As of Friday evening, the sides were said to be significantly apart on the fees that Tribune sought in exchange for allowing the satcaster to retransmit its station signals in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington, D.C.

But the talks continued well into Friday night. Execs from the two companies had a face-to-face session in New York on Thursday, and the sides kept in close contact by telephone on Friday.

Tribune went public on Monday with its assertion that DirecTV was balking at what Tribune deemed a "fair" price for retrans rights to its 23 stations. Since then, Tribune outlets had run crawls and PSAs warning viewers that an interruption in service on DirecTV's lineup may be in the offing. The Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times has carried full page ads for the past few days urging viewers to "save KTLA" by calling or emailing DirecTV reps.

The dispute marks the latest flareup of tensions between a broadcaster and a multichannel video provider over retrans rights. Tribune has in the past received no cash compensation from DirecTV for its stations, but it and other station groups have pushed hard in the past few years to earn fees commensurate with the prices that operators pay for many cable channels that draw far smaller audiences. With CW affils in most of its largest markets, however, Tribune does not bring as much leverage to the table as stations affiliated with the Big Four, although it owns seven Fox affils in markets including Indianapolis, Seattle and San Diego, as well as the ABC affil in New Orleans.

Tribune stations do have the home-field advantage of carrying key sports teams in local markets. On the verge of the start of baseball season, Tribune has been emphasizing that viewers in New York would miss New York Mets games on WPIX-TV and Philadelphia-area viewers would miss Phillies games on WPHL-TV.

DirecTV maintained that it would not yank the stations unless forced to do so by Tribune.

 

[toolman90]

Is DIRECTV lying about this agreement. According to the artical posted by MSHAW2715 WGN has offical stated that DIRECTV still has no contract to carry their local channels and WGN America and they also state that they press release by DIRECTV is "inaccurate and misleading". Offical News artical released by WGN at 1:55 P.M. March 31, 2012. It seems like DIRECTV still has no agreement with Tribune media. Shame on DIRECTV for misleading their customers that they even had an agreement.

 

[Mariah2014]

If you check the Directv twitter feed you will find the Tribune statement is correct.

Is DIRECTV lying about this agrrement. According to the artical posted by MSHAW2715 WGN has offical stated that DIRECTV still has no contract to carry their local channels and WGN America and they also state that they press release by DIRECTV is "inaccurate and misleading". News artical released by WGN at 1:55 P.M. March 31, 2012. It seems like DIRECTV still has no agreement with Tribune media. shame on DIRECTV for misleading their customers.

 

[charper1]

Is DIRECTV lying about this agreement. According to the artical posted by MSHAW2715 WGN has offical stated that DIRECTV still has no contract to carry their local channels and WGN America and they also state that they press release by DIRECTV is "inaccurate and misleading". Offical News artical released by WGN at 1:55 P.M. March 31, 2012. It seems like DIRECTV still has no agreement with Tribune media. Shame on DIRECTV for misleading their customers that they even had an agreement.

yawn... there is a known difference between an agreement in principal and an agreement; a final agreement.. the bottom line is NOT to get one's panties in a knot. there is nothing misleading either..


"DIRECTV said today that it has accepted financial terms Tribune's management offered to it by phone on Thursday, March 29 at 3:30 PM EST, to carry their 23 local broadcast stations to ensure customers do not lose their programming"


it does NOT say anything is final; this equals an agreement in principal (an agreement in principle is a stepping stone to a contract. Such agreements with regards to the principle are usually considered fair and equitable. Even if not all details are known, an agreement in principle may, for example, outline a schedule or plan or agreed to terms before finalization)

 

[toolman90]

The reason I am confused it that tribunes offical statement is that DIRECTV still has no contract so who is lying Tribune Media or DIRECTV. They even stated that the offical press release from DIRECTV is not true.
But I guss we will find out at midnight. It could be that it is not in writing but I find it hard to belive if Directv agreed to it that they would say that their statement is false.

 

[Tampa8]

Reading the statements, I don't think Direct was fudging anything, it would appear they think they have an agreement, not a signed contract, but an agreement. I also think they put this out right away to allay fears of subscribers with the deadline coming tonight.

Who the heck knows the motive of Tribune. Their statement seems to be also correct, there is no contract, but Jeez....... This is why (yes among other reasons) I couldn't be the person making the decisions for Direct or Dish. If I had an agreement by phone, then saw this press release by tribune I'd say fine, you're right, no agreement, go away.....

 

[charper1]

Toolman,

if you read the latest OFFICIAL statement(s). They BOTH had a handshake/agreement in principal and DirecTV made a pre-statement to that effect. Tribune got pissed off about it and is apparently now reneging on that agreement. Trust me, I am sure said handshake agreement was documented to the point DirecTV comfortably issued a pre-release..which was also likely part of said agreement.

Tribune's motive here is EASY; to look good while being overly-greedy during THEIR bankruptcy troubles.

 

[toolman90]

I do not know whats going on it is possible that tribune reniged on a counter agreement that would have been acceptable that directv was willing to pay. But I honestly do not know whats going on because appartly there is still no offical agreement. I hope that they get one before the deadline becuse it would be awful to lose some or all of your local channels.

 

[charper1]

I do not know whats going on it is possible that tribune reniged on a counter agreement that would have been acceptable that directv was willing to pay. But I honestly do not know whats going on because appartly there is still no offical agreement. I hope that they get one before the deadline becuse it would be awful to lose some or all of your local channels.

and thus our original statements; you WON'T know until all is said and done... no need to get so worked up and worried.. it will work out and be A-OK

 

[DodgerKing]

let WGN go... its nice and all, but.................... it's TNT or TBS with CHI area aports

I actually prefer and watch WGN more than my own local CW Tribune station.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[charper1]

is it worth them hijacking you?