A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a restructuring that calls for the sale of struggling regional sports network Comcast SportsNet Houston to AT&T (NYSE: T) and DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV).
Under the plan, as reported by the Houston Chronicle, AT&T and DirecTV will acquire the network and then re-launch it as Root Sports Houston. According to Multichannel News, AT&T and DirecTV acquired SportsNet Houston for $5,000.
The channel will then have something it didn't have when it was jointly launched in 2012 by Comcast, the Houston Rockets and the Houston Astros—carriage on a major pay-TV service other than Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Under the approved restructuring plan, both AT&T U-verse and DirecTV will carry RSN, along with Comcast.
Judge Marvin Isgur gave Comcast one week to appeal the ruling. But pending that, his decision Thursday ends a year of contentious bankruptcy-court haggling over the channel.
There was no timeline announced as to when the RSN will be re-launched—or how many Rockets games Houston NBA fans will miss in the process.
For more:
- read this Houston Chronicle story
- read this Multichannel News article
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