DIRECTV and Tribune Reach Agreement For Retransmission of Tribune's Local Channels and WGN America
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
DIRECTV and Tribune have reached a retransmission consent deal for
DIRECTV to continue carrying all of Tribune's local stations and WGN
America for the next five years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We're pleased that Tribune and their creditors now recognize that all
DIRECTV wanted from day one was to pay fair market rates for their
channels," said Derek Chang, executive vice president of Content,
Strategy and Development, DIRECTV. "It's unfortunate that Tribune was
willing to hold our customers hostage in an attempt to extract excessive
rates, but in the end we reached a fair deal at market rates similar to
what we originally agreed to on March 29. On behalf of our customers, we
are very happy to close the deal and put this behind us."
Tribune restored all of their local signals and WGN America to DIRECTV
customers at approximately 9 p.m. ET.
Five million American homes blacked out from their local broadcaster
cries out for an examination in Washington, D.C of the decades old
telecom law that encourages these impasses.
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.
DIRECTV
Darris Gringeri
(212) 205-0882
DAGringeri@directv.com
or
Robert
Mercer
(310) 964-4683
RGMercer@directv.com
Source: DIRECTV
News Provided by Acquire Media
Print page
Email page
Download PDF
