Versus Removed Sept 1 from DirecTV

[durl]

We hardly ever know the FULL story behind these contract negotiations so automatically blaming Directv might be a bit presumptuous. Do we know the details of what Versus is asking? Remember: Versus is owned by Comcast, a huge competitor to Directv.

- Directv wants to provide channels people want because that gives them more subscribers. They also want to keep costs down and not pay huge carriage fees if the demand is not high enough to necessitate them.

- Networks, such as Versus, want to be made available to the most customers possible and obtain the highest possible carriage fees by companies such as Directv.

Since Versus is not in the Sports Pack, higher carriage fees demanded by them could potentially result in higher programming costs for everyone with Choice Xtra or Premier packages, whether they enjoy sports or not.

 

[damjr]

We hardly ever know the FULL story behind these contract negotiations so automatically blaming Directv might be a bit presumptuous. Do we know the details of what Versus is asking? Remember: Versus is owned by Comcast, a huge competitor to Directv.

- Directv wants to provide channels people want because that gives them more subscribers. They also want to keep costs down and not pay huge carriage fees if the demand is not high enough to necessitate them.

- Networks, such as Versus, want to be made available to the most customers possible and obtain the highest possible carriage fees by companies such as Directv.

Since Versus is not in the Sports Pack, higher carriage fees demanded by them could potentially result in higher programming costs for everyone with Choice Xtra or Premier packages, whether they enjoy sports or not.

:up Very well put !!

This is exactly what's going on out there. We will see more and more of this going on in the future.

If DTV or Dish keep bending to the channel demands we will all see much higher monthly costs.

Honestly I'm glad to see DTV finally stand up to these guys. They have lying down much too easily on other negotiations which is why you see higher monthly costs today than what you were paying 3 years ago.

I remember when satellite tv was anywhere from 25-40% less than cable, but today DTV is right up there with most cable companies now. This in part is due to ridiculously higher costs going out to the programmers. Who do you think has to absorb these costs? Who do you think is paying the billion dollar price tag for the NFL Sunday ticket?

We as consumers need to take a stand as well and start backing our providers by writing the advertisers that advertise on the channels demanding higher fees and letting them know we will not support their products if they advertise on these channels. This is how you hit the channels in the pocket book. This is what will wake them up.

If we all sit here and blame DTV or Dish for not caving in to the channels demands
then the channels win and our bills will keep going up. Time to wake up people !!!

 

[darrencp22]

Since DirecTV does not often get in these disputes, i'm going to side with them and give them the benefit of the doubt.... This is not a luxury DIsh ahs because they are in constant programming disputes.

 

[Mariah2014]

Here is the multichannel news article on it.
Dispute Alert / Sirius Outlook - The Satellite Dish | Blog on Multichannel News
Dispute Alert / Sirius Outlook

August 20, 2009
Attention satellite viewers… there is another programming dispute and surprisingly this time it does not involve Dish Network. At odd are satellite giant DirecTV and sports network Versus.
Its rare to see DirecTV in a public programming dispute, but according to DirecTV’s website at DIRECTV: Versus on DIRECTV the sports network has been running a message on viewers screens telling them that they may no longer receive the Versus channel after August 31st.
DirecTV states that they are in contract negotiations with Versus and that their contract is slated to expire on August 31st so viewers will be able to continue to enjoy programming from Versus until then.
DirecTV goes on to add that is they do not reach an agreement prior to the expiration of the contract DirecTV will remove Versus from the lineup.
In what seems like a page out of the Dish Network programming dispute playbook DirecTV also mentions on it’s web page that “DIRECTV wants to keep your monthly fees low, so it’s doing everything it can to avoid paying exorbitant programming fees.” DirecTV also goes on to add “… this is about DIRECTV getting treated fairly and not wanting to pass on high programming fees to our customers.”
I am sure seeing this has some folks at Dish Network smiling. One of Dish Networks major public disputes was over the same channel (which was then called Outdoor Life Network.) Dish dropped the channel from their lineup over a dispute in October of 2005, the channel was not returned to Dish Network until April of 2006.
Versus is known for its hockey and professional bull riding coverage, but also offers college football and Indycar racing.
We will be keeping a close eye on this one.

 

[Mariah2014]

DirecTV Could Drop Versus - 2009-08-20 16:06:34 EDT | Multichannel News
DirecTV Could Drop Versus

Carriage Expires Sept.1 Unless New Deal Emerges

by Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 8/20/2009 4:06:34 PM EDT





DirecTV has notified its customers that it will drop sports channel Versus on Sept. 1 unless the two can work out a carriage agreement.
Versus, formerly Outdoor Life Network, was rebranded in 2006 and is the home of the National Hockey League as well as collegiate sports from the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League conferences, the Tour de France bicycle race, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cage fighting (WEC), the Indy Racing League and Professional Boxing.
The network is available in about 75 million homes and is wholly-owned by Comcast. It is unclear how many subscribers the network has on DirecTV, which has about 24.2 million subscribers overall.
In a statement, DirecTV said that the dispute centers on carriage fees. According to SNL Kagan, Versus was getting about 18 cents per subscriber per month in carriage fees from cable operators in 2009.
"In our contract discussions, Comcast has demanded a deal for Versus that is not comparable to other providers and is pushing for a significant rate hike that does not reflect current market terms or the value of its programming," DirecTV said in a prepared statement. "We will continue to try and negotiate a fair deal, but we intend to hold the line on our programming costs and protect our customers against these unfair demands that are both discriminatory and wholly unrealistic given current market rates. If we do not reach an agreement, the network will come down on Sept. 1 following the expiration of our contract with Versus."
The dispute comes weeks before the college football season is expected to kick-off - Versus is scheduled to air its first game (Texas vs. Wyoming) on Sept. 12. Versus also airs its first NHL contest on Oct. 1.
In a statement, Versus said that it is negotiating in good faith with DirecTV and hopes a deal can be reached soon.
"Since our last deal with DirecTV, Versus has added many marquee properties and has become the fastest growing sports cable network in the country," the network said in a statement. "Despite this tremendous momentum, we are offering DirecTV the ability to carry Versus the same way it does today at the market price for the network. We continue to talk and are hopeful that we will reach an agreement."
Since its re-branding three years ago, Versus has indeed increased its distribution: it is available in 75 million homes compared to 62 million in 2006 and has beefed up its programming lineup, expanding its college football coverage from 9 games in 2006 to more than 20 games this season, as well as adding other programming.

 

[Tampa8]

Since DirecTV does not often get in these disputes, i'm going to side with them and give them the benefit of the doubt.... This is not a luxury DIsh ahs because they are in constant programming disputes.

Kind of a silly position to take, isn't it? Why not think about maybe Charlie was right all along and Direct is now going to do what Dish has been doing? Good for both companies. Keep it up.

 

[ChrisK114]

I agree with Tampa. They should stand up for themselves when they feel as if they have been treated unfairly. Regardless of what we may think, if D* or E* feel like they are being taken advantage of, them, speak up.

 

[damjr]

I agree with Tampa. They should stand up for themselves when they feel as if they have been treated unfairly. Regardless of what we may think, if D* or E* feel like they are being taken advantage of, them, speak up.

Agreed. As I said earlier, we will probably see more of these disputes in the future.

I think one of the reasons, besides greed, that the channels are asking for more money may have something to do with less advertising revenue. I think they're trying to make up the difference by extorting providers. Just my $.02

 

[Jhon69]

:up Very well put !!

This is exactly what's going on out there. We will see more and more of this going on in the future.

If DTV or Dish keep bending to the channel demands we will all see much higher monthly costs.

Honestly I'm glad to see DTV finally stand up to these guys. They have lying down much too easily on other negotiations which is why you see higher monthly costs today than what you were paying 3 years ago.

I remember when satellite tv was anywhere from 25-40% less than cable, but today DTV is right up there with most cable companies now. This in part is due to ridiculously higher costs going out to the programmers. Who do you think has to absorb these costs? Who do you think is paying the billion dollar price tag for the NFL Sunday ticket?

We as consumers need to take a stand as well and start backing our providers by writing the advertisers that advertise on the channels demanding higher fees and letting them know we will not support their products if they advertise on these channels. This is how you hit the channels in the pocket book. This is what will wake them up.

If we all sit here and blame DTV or Dish for not caving in to the channels demands
then the channels win and our bills will keep going up. Time to wake up people !!!

Annual channel price increases are negotiated in the contract at the time of negotiation so to believe your bill will not increase every year would be wishful thinking but not practical.

 

[Frank Booth]

I will say this, as much as I am a NHL fan, and an IRL follower, Versus way overpaid for these properties. ESPN offered a revenue-sharing deal to the NHL, like NBC, but Comcast came in with a big offer. However, the ratings haven't justified it, and it has been a disaster for the NHL, they get killed by writers and fans on a daily basis. If it wasn't for NBC and the RSN's, the league would be dead. Zero exposure.

As for the IRL, ABC/ESPN was only interested in the Indy 500 and a handful of races to air on ABC. They offered the IRL a time-buy for ESPN/ESPN2 for the balance of the schedule. This is what CART/Champ Car did for their races. But Versus offered money and a pre-race show, and that's where they went. But team sponsors and race promoters are furious because the exposure on Versus is nill. Any momentum from the IRL/Champ Car merger is gone. Period. Versus has been a disaster for the NHL and IRL. And the NHL and IRL have been mistakes for Versus. Now Comcast wants DirecTV to pay it seems.

 

[mbarry55]

As someone who hasnt even had Direct a month yet, and is a huge hockey fan, what would my options be? If I got NHL Center Ice would there be any conflicts, as far as blackouts etc go?

I will be seriously mad if they do not reach an agreement. I don't care WHO is to blame, I want my NHL.

 

[Jimbo]

As someone who hasnt even had Direct a month yet, and is a huge hockey fan, what would my options be? If I got NHL Center Ice would there be any conflicts, as far as blackouts etc go?

I will be seriously mad if they do not reach an agreement. I don't care WHO is to blame, I want my NHL.

Your options would be the same as they are with VS...
Your RSN or the Centre Ice package.

Personally, I would not miss VS, whenever my team (Red Wings) was on VS it was blacked out anyways.
I always ended up watching on my RSN.

 

[Fl_Gulfer]

But I will miss my Wings... since I don't care about center ice anymore. It was worth it when it first started, but it's not worth what they charge for it now days.

 

[SpaethCo]

But I will miss my Wings... since I don't care about center ice anymore. It was worth it when it first started, but it's not worth what they charge for it now days.

Everything is relative.

2 lower level tickets at the Joe for a single game: $160 (not including facility charges and ticketmaster fees)

Center Ice: $159 for every game played in the league that is not nationally broadcasted for the entire season.

Best. Deal. Ever.

 

[skottey]

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/article.jsp?assetId=P6220002Should I switch to DISH or cable?
No. There's no need to consider switching providers. We're working to continue negotiations and provide uninterrupted service for our customers. DIRECTV has the best variety of exclusive and premium content available anywhere and we have similar programming on other channels (see above).

Best premium content? They certainly don't mean "premium" channels. I will take it to mean sports. But why don't they just come out and say we have Sunday Ticket, don't switch.

Outside of sports, what does DirecTV actually offer that you cannot get anywhere else (packaged the same way like Sunday ticket, with all out of market NFL games)?

How dare they say "premium" when they mean "Sunday Ticket and RSNs."

I am an average sports fan and I get my fill with local stations and local RSNs. I don't have to miss any NFL games of my team or many hockey games at all with my local team. Sure, if you are a "displaced" fan or such a large fan that you cannot live without every possibly football game on Sunday, you have to have DirecTV (or find a bar playing your game with sound). So they should call it what it is. Declaring best "premium" variety is at the very least deceptive.

The best "premium" sports are on DirecTV.

The best "premium" channels (movies) are on FIOS, not DirecTV.

The best "premium" anything else is elsewhere.

The only exclusive to DirecTV stuff that I watch is "Trailer Park Boys" on the 101 and if I really wanted, I can watch every episode online or buy the DVD set of the entire series.

DirecTV really needs to stop patting itself on the back.

 

[Tampa8]

As someone who hasnt even had Direct a month yet, and is a huge hockey fan, what would my options be? If I got NHL Center Ice would there be any conflicts, as far as blackouts etc go?

I will be seriously mad if they do not reach an agreement. I don't care WHO is to blame, I want my NHL.

VS is hoping that is the sentiment of viewers. No one can blame you for thinking that way because if NESN were to be dropped, well lets just say it wouldn't be pretty.......

But the other side of the coin is, Direct and Dish have to determine how much they can raise rates, without losing customers, or how much they can absorb when providers want to raise rates. Classic example is Dish and YES. Dish determined they would not meet the YES carriage price, and thus not carry YES because they would need to raise rates for everyone based on how much and how YES wants to be carried. This, even though you wouldn't get YES (or at least Major League Games from YES) unless you were in the YES coverage area. So I have to guess, they determined as best they could how many subscribers would leave in the area served by YES, remembering not everyone cares about sports, or may not care about watching the Yankees, and that we are talking about a small area compared to Dish covering the whole US. Add to that, how many actual subscribers they have in that area, and they decided they would lose less customers by NOT carrying YES.
In the opposite direction, Direct has apparently determined (And I think correctly) VS needs them more than Direct needs VS, and eventually VS will lower their cost to Direct.
In the long run we all win if costs are kept down. If Dish or Direct go too far and misread the customer, and lose programming really wanted by the viewer, they will suffer for that also.

 

[mbarry55]

My problem is that I am out of market for the Red Wings, so my options are either Vs or NHL Center Ice. I might get Center ice regardless.

 

[jcrandall]

You guys are forgetting that the Monday/Tuesday night games on VS are often exclusive. VS can claim up to 8 games most for any team. Last year VS had exclusive rights to 8 Wings games.

Also, some games in the playoffs are exclusive in rounds 1-2, all games in rounds 3, and the first two games in the Stanley Cup.

This is much bigger than missing a few games, and NHL-CI / NHL Net / RSNs do NOT fill the gap.

 

[sum_random_dork]

You guys are forgetting that the Monday/Tuesday night games on VS are often exclusive. VS can claim up to 8 games most for any team. Last year VS had exclusive rights to 8 Wings games.

Also, some games in the playoffs are exclusive in rounds 1-2, all games in rounds 3, and the first two games in the Stanley Cup.

This is much bigger than missing a few games, and NHL-CI / NHL Net / RSNs do NOT fill the gap.

Plus, the college football games...those of us on the West Coast have 2 different Confs with games on Vs (Pac 10 and The Mtn). I don't watch much hockey at all (some Sharks games). But I do enjoy my college football.....Plus, I am/was looking forward to checking out the new UFL league that is on Vs this fall. We have a loacal team in the SF/Sacramento area The CA Redwoods (bad name I know).

 

[skottey]

But the other side of the coin is

In the opposite direction, Direct has apparently determined (And I think correctly) VS needs them more than Direct needs VS, and eventually VS will lower their cost to Direct.
In the long run we all win if costs are kept down. If Dish or Direct go too far and misread the customer, and lose programming really wanted by the viewer, they will suffer for that also.

Let's make it a three sided coin here.....

Yet another way to look at it. DirecTV has been bragging about adding subscribers and their financial gains as of late. I am assuming that Versus is profitable too but that DirecTV has a larger margin of profitability than Versus. What is DirecTV doing with their thicker profit margin? They certainly aren't adding non-sporting HD programming (I'm still waiting for HBO/MAX HD channels promised long ago) They are building a nice little nest egg for themselves.

But Versus, in the last few years since re-branding as Versus has come a LONG way and they are a respectable channel in my opinion. What would Versus do with more money? Sit on the profits like fat cats the way DirecTV does or use it to build up their programming? We'd all like them to add more/better NHL games (hockey fans I mean) and they could certainly add more programming in other sports.

Also, for this to happen, this does NOT mean DirecTV has to raise rates. They are making money. So they'd be making a little less money. God knows they aren't serious about adding programming. Versus is serious about adding programming. I'd like to see DirecTV give Versus a little more money and see more hockey games with the next contract deal between Versus and the NHL. They are going to need more money to do it.

DirecTV does waste money in other ways. As a subscriber to both FIOS (for the HD premiums mainly) and DirecTV, I recently moved and had to give up FIOS until it is available in my new neighborhood in January. DirecTV gave me a movers deal, which is the Sunday Ticket and all the premiums for a good price. But what they didn't do was allow me to add equipment without renewing my contract for 2 years. I just wanted to add receivers and was willing to pay for it. But instead I am stuck with my two HD-DVRs because I don't want to renew my contract and I get Sunday Ticket free, which I won't use. I watch the Bucs and that is it, and I get them anyway. So I took the movers package promoting Sunday Ticket because it gave me all the premiums for less than I was paying with Choice Extra before. I would have done the same deal for just the added premiums at that price but I get Sunday ticket. And then later I find out they want an extra $20/mo for the Sunday Ticket if I want it in HD. If I signed up based on Sunday Ticket, I'd be irate. Of course having HD DVRs and HD extra everything I would want my games in HD. Who with an HD DVR and Sunday Ticket settles for SD games? I cannot watch a football game in SD. Foolishness. My point is, they have all these overkill, silly promotions, but they are not putting their money back into new channels like HBO2 in HD (as promised).

I think Versus could certainly put that extra money to good use. And DirecTV would not have to raise their rates.