AT&T and Scripps have agreed on a carriage deal for HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and GAC, nipping in the bud any possibility of a protracted fight, a la Fox and Cablevision, that would have left U-verse customers without the popular array of programming.
No details of the deal were made public, but AT&T did say it was "very satisfied that this is a fair deal that benefits our U-verse customers. The terms and costs of the deal recognize our growing subscriber base and give us the tools and content rights to compete with all other providers. We are very grateful to our customers for their support."
Brian Shay, an SVP of U-verse said, "It was important to us on behalf of our customers to come to a positive resolution as quickly as possible."
Scripps took a similar conciliatory line.
"These situations are never easy, and everyone regrets that the viewers were caught in the middle," said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks. "After the initial impasse, both sides took quick action to work toward a constructive solution."
Scripps pulled its programming from U-verse's 2.7 million customers Friday over a dispute that revolved around the additional use of Scripps content, most likely on other screens.
The latest battle--and there have been several more in recent months--was unlike the very public battle between News Corp. and Cablevision, in that regard. That brouhaha left 3 million subscribers without the Fox networks, the National League playoffs, NFL football, two games of the World Series and programming like Glee, as Fox demanded a retransmission fee from Cablevision that reportedly doubled its most recent contract with the MSO.
For more:
- see this release
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