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Comcast, DirecTV Fight Over Versus Network
Channel goes dark for all DirecTV customers
While AT&T, Verizon and Cablevision fight about access to the MSG Network, Comcast and DirecTV are engaged in a carriage dispute of their own. DirecTV last night dropped access to the Comcast-owned Versus channel, issuing a public statement proclaiming that Comcast "has forced us to take down the channel because we will not agree to their ridiculous demands that simply do not reflect current market valuations for their programming." In response, the channel issued a statement saying "Versus offered DirecTV a fair and reasonable offer to carry the network at the market price," adding that "we hope DirecTV will make the right decision for their customers and put Versus back on the air."
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DSL12steps
join:2001-12-24

DSL12steps

Member

never watched it?

Won't miss that channel.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: never watched it?

said by DSL12steps:

Won't miss that channel.
Mostly junk shows except during hockey season when it carries a lot of NHL games. NHL season doesn't start until Oct 1, so no pressure on DirecTV from hockey fans until then.

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

footballdude

Premium Member

Re: never watched it?

said by FFH5:
said by DSL12steps:

Won't miss that channel.
Mostly junk shows except during hockey season when it carries a lot of NHL games. NHL season doesn't start until Oct 1, so no pressure on DirecTV from hockey fans until then.
DirecTV carries the NHL channel now (in HD). Plus you can see your local team on your regional sports channel (like Fox Sports Midwest). No reason at all for Versus anymore.

Jma23
@gsinet.net

Jma23

Anon

Re: never watched it?

Footballdude.. You actually can't watch the game on your local sports channel. If your team is playing on Versus that night, your local channel will be either blacked out for that time period or playing some alternate programming.

lakerfan82
join:2009-01-30
Corona, CA

lakerfan82 to FFH5

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to FFH5
said by FFH5:

Mostly junk shows except during hockey season when it carries a lot of NHL games. NHL season doesn't start until Oct 1, so no pressure on DirecTV from hockey fans until then.
Versus does carry Big 12, Pac 10, Mountain West, and Ivy League college football, so DirecTV does have to worry about pissing off *a few* college football fans as well... »www.versus.com/nw/articl ··· icle.tpl
Samsonian
join:2007-06-15

Samsonian

Member

Re: never watched it?

They also carry World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) fights and content, a smaller sister promotion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), both owned Zuffa. As well as various Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) news.

If you're a fight fan, it's a decent network to have.

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

Jodokast96 to FFH5

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to FFH5
Yeah, they carry a lot of hockey games, but honestly, they have some of the worst coverage I've seen of any sport. The commentators suck, the camera work sucks, just about everything you can think of is bad. Because of it I end up not watching those games anyway. Of all the bad decisions the NHL has made, signing up with this network was probably the worst. I'd take Fox and streaking pucks anyday over this shit.
JerryTimes
join:2002-01-09
Clinton Township, MI

JerryTimes

Member

Re: never watched it?

The camera work isn't usually done by the channel. In most cases it's done by the areas camera people and then broadcast to the carriers.

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

Jodokast96

Premium Member

Re: never watched it?

I don't know what the deal is, but I can see a definite difference between home games (in my case Flyers) on Vs, CSN Philly, or whatever other channel happens to broadcast them (several others throughout the season).

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile to DSL12steps

Premium Member

to DSL12steps
Direct TV did the exact same thing to all cable companies with Big Ten Network. Gouged them for money, and held out.

The VS channel is big here in MI, they have a lot of hockey (Red Wings)
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: never watched it?

said by baineschile:

Direct TV did the exact same thing to all cable companies with Big Ten Network. Gouged them for money, and held out.

The VS channel is big here in MI, they have a lot of hockey (Red Wings)
and comcast is not letting direct tv get some of it's rsn's.

comcast also had that thing with the NFL network as well.

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Re: never watched it?

Thats true, but Fox Broadcasting doesnt own the NFL network; they own Direct TV and the BTN
weaver
join:2001-12-13
New Alexandria, PA

weaver

Member

Re: never watched it?

said by baineschile:

Thats true, but Fox Broadcasting doesnt own the NFL network; they own Direct TV and the BTN
Fox doesn't own DirecTV anymore.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: never watched it?

said by weaver:

said by baineschile:

Thats true, but Fox Broadcasting doesnt own the NFL network; they own Direct TV and the BTN
Fox doesn't own DirecTV anymore.
That's correct. And Fox never owned it. News Corporation did (there's a difference).

News corp sold off the DirecTV shares to Liberty media in 2006 in exchange for the newscorp shares that they held.

Interestingly enough, when Newscorp "owned" DirecTV, it only owned 39% of the shares, but it was still the largest shareholder.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

1 edit

ISurfTooMuch to weaver

Member

to weaver
Didn't Fox sell it to Liberty Media?

EDIT: Looks like Eat Me beat me to it.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to baineschile

Member

to baineschile
said by baineschile:

Thats true, but Fox Broadcasting doesnt own the NFL network; they own Direct TV DirecTV and the BTN

quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium Member
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI

quetwo to baineschile

Premium Member

to baineschile
There was a lot more back-story with the BTN deal -- it was more about sour grapes than money. In fact, Comcast is paying more now than then the orgional contract stated.

burgerwars
join:2004-09-11
Northridge, CA

burgerwars to DSL12steps

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to DSL12steps
Never watched it myself, but I believe it's somewhere up there in my channel lineup. There's enough cr*p on the other 500 channels, so who needs another.

I just went to the Versus website and they're playing audio telling you that DirecTV may a bad call. I don't think so. I won't be the one missing World Extreme Cagefighting...

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: never watched it?

said by burgerwars:

Never watched it myself, but I believe it's somewhere up there in my channel lineup. There's enough cr*p on the other 500 channels, so who needs another.
They have exclusive broadcast rights to the NHL games that they broadcast, including the Stanley Cup playoffs. While there are a vast many channels that are simply a syndication wasteland, this channel actually has unique content that cannot be found anywhere else.

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

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to DSL12steps
said by DSL12steps:

Won't miss that channel.
I agree.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll call DirecTV today and congratulate them on their decision to not give in to Comcast's unreasonable demands. As a DirecTV customer I'd prefer they take the course of action that they did, rather than caving in. They are large enough that they should have enough pull with Comcast to force some sort of reasonable negotiation.

doublea
join:2007-06-04
Rancho Cordova, CA

doublea to DSL12steps

Member

to DSL12steps
VS. = outdoor living network.

Tour de france anyone? That's a big event in my household, the only reason we have the directv package we do. Time to downgrade to a lower package. I'm not blowing steam, I'm serious folks, it was the only reason I had this level of directv service.
unoriginal
Premium Member
join:2000-07-12
San Diego, CA

unoriginal

Premium Member

Re: never watched it?

Well look on the bright side. You get to save some money each month until next July when it comes back.
VictorWI
join:2003-05-30
Greendale, WI

VictorWI to DSL12steps

Member

to DSL12steps
DAKAR rally in January - better be there by then or Speed take it back.
sven_kirk3
join:2002-07-23
Lithia Springs, GA

sven_kirk3

Member

Re: never watched it?

Agreed. That is the only thing I watch on VS. But still, I tivo that

Mactron
el Camino Real
Premium Member
join:2001-12-16
PRK

Mactron

Premium Member

Yawn...

Yet another "Sports" Channel.
Wish they would pull the plug on ESPN too
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

2 recommendations

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Yawn...

said by Mactron:

Yet another "Sports" Channel.
Wish they would pull the plug on ESPN too
Amen to that! As far as I'm concerned, they need to move all these channels to a sports tier and charge those who want to get them the high prices. Premium channels are on their own tier, so why shouldn't sports channels also be?

As for Versus, who cares? I've heard of it, but I think it took me several years to realize it was in my channel lineup, and I've never once watched it.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Yawn...

epsn should be like HBO EPSN 1, 2, classic, U should all be in there own pack.

Also trun disney back in to one as well.
ChuckIL9
join:2005-11-07
Peoria, IL

ChuckIL9 to Mactron

Member

to Mactron
As far as I'm concerned their are only two reasons to turn on the TV, sports and cartoons. Versus had Indycar racing, the Tour de France, and Hockey. It will be missed.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Who cares?

Another crap channel owned by Comcast that I never watched to begin with.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: Who cares?

said by battleop:

Another crap channel owned by Comcast that I never watched to begin with.
Great. Thanks for letting us all know.

Jhsanchez
@comcast.net

Jhsanchez

Anon

Enjoyed one show on channel

I started watching "GunsNGear" a couple of weeks ago but never heard of the channel before that.

Ioweyou
@comcast.net

Ioweyou

Anon

I have DirecTV.....

What the heck is Versus?
clickie8
join:2005-05-22
Monroe, MI

clickie8

Member

"Market Price"

Excuse me, but what the hell is "market price"? Seems to me that it's a made-up number that Comcast thinks that their channel is worth, certainly not what the consumer would be willing to pay. And since the consumer has no choice and thus is denied legitimate access to the "market", I think they should be bitch slapped on general principle for using this term.

I agree with all the others here who have said that it's time the customer base of cable and satellite providers stop subsidizing sports programming.

ExitWound
Porsche Snob
join:2001-12-13
Boalsburg, PA

ExitWound

Member

Re: "Market Price"

Versus viewership is way up since they anchored hockey on their lineup. I think Comcast just wants more money now. It's "market price" should obviously go up! Lame.

Jwobot
join:2002-08-14
Sterling Heights, MI

1 recommendation

Jwobot

Member

TSN

If DirecTV wanted to screw Comcast, they should pick up TSN from Canada.
dogo88
join:2001-09-24
Old Bridge, NJ

dogo88

Member

market price?

I thought "market price" was for lobster?

••••
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

good for DirecTV

I watched ONE game on that channel once.

To the poster above saying it should be on a "sports" tier - it was in my case on Cox...

Seriously though, ESPN is THE most expensive channel on "Expanded basic" type services... likely even for DirecTV/Dish as well...

Between them and other sports channels, it's a wonder anyone has cable or satellite anymore.

Time for "semi-a-la-carte" channel lineups.
...Cox ALMOST moved ESPN once upon a time, which would've effectively started the ball rolling on a "semi" a-la-carte" type system... (»www.businessweek.com/mag ··· z016.htm)

If there can already be "sports" tiers, move ALL of them there.
Leave the networks to handle the games they handle (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), but put 24-hr sports channels on their own space.

I happen to like Sci-Fi (I refuse to call their channel by its new goofy name... it's a genre, you can't just rename it that easily ). Put that in its own space if you have to as well, I don't care. I'd buy that "tier" and others wouldn't. It'd still be a wash, and ESPN's overpriced madness would probably still make tons of money, and maybe even more due to unwitting sports fans "NEEDING" to pay for their fix... Heck, I might even buy into it seasonally, and cancel over the summer, and I'm not even a huge sports fan... I bet they'd STILL make a killing every year...

From the article:
---
"Versus offered DirecTV a fair and reasonable offer to carry the network at the market price. "
---
--Translation, ESPN gets a crap ton of money, we should too...

The article also says just about as much directly after that:
---
"DirecTV said it already pays Versus more than any other independent distributor and that the 20% hike it is seeking "for what is basically a paid programming and infomercial channel with occasional sporting events of interest is simply piggish.""
---
Go DirecTV. Maybe this'll be enough to put some people on to the idea that sports programming deserves its own tier entirely and that regular "expanded" packages do NOT need to keep paying these insane price hikes year after year, due almost ENTIRELY by a couple of networks like this that demand more and more money when tons of people simply never watch them, or, if they do, rarely.

quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium Member
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI

quetwo

Premium Member

Re: good for DirecTV

said by amungus:

Seriously though, ESPN is THE most expensive channel on "Expanded basic" type services... likely even for DirecTV/Dish as well...
Sorry, but current cable rates are a bit outta wack. The latest I have actually put Nikelodean/Comedy Central/MTV at double the cost of ESPN/ESPN2. In fact, the ABC pack, Viacom pack, and CNN packs are all more expensive than ESPN.

Albatross
join:2000-12-22
Dallas, TX

Albatross

Member

Versus

Versus is the only channel with cycling coverage, including daily coverage of the Tour de France. Without Versus, I'm not sure what the point of my DirecTV subscription is, given that there's movies through XBOX/Netflix and I already get my local HDTV channels OTA.
krazymon2
join:2008-01-13
Coraopolis, PA

krazymon2

Member

Hockey is the only thing I'll miss

Hockey is really the only thing that I ever watch on Versus and since the Pens don't play their first game until October 2nd I won't start sweating it just yet.

Also someone above had mentioned that the games will still be on the local carrier. Around here they aren't, when Versus had a game last year it wasn't shown on Fox Sports Net and vice versa. Not sure why that was but it was the case. I am guessing Versus got exclusive rights to broadcast the game.

If I had it my way every single game would be on Fox Sports though as I like the announcers for the game much more.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Hockey is the only thing I'll miss

at least the NHL lets teams have free on line radio feeds.
jhrollins
join:2008-01-18
Midlothian, VA

jhrollins

Member

Never watched?

They show the Indycar races don't they?
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

Versus is not too bad.

Yeah Versus has Indy Car and I think their biggest draw is to MMA. They show all the big MMA fights in HD which actually is pretty cool.

Can't believe I'm praising anything Comcast does but Versus isn't bad so it gets a "pass" this time.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Waste of space

They should drop it for good and bring something else that is more interesting.

If only my cable provider would drop Versus and bring on something else like Comedy Central HD.

DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium Member
join:2000-05-14
Hedgesville, WV
·StarLink
·HughesNet

DataDoc

Premium Member

Re: Waste of space

said by fifty nine:

They should drop it for good and bring something else that is more interesting.

If only my cable provider would drop Versus and bring on something else like Comedy Central HD.
Most of their comedy seems to be feeble attempts to get a laugh by working "blue". I got tired of that years ago.
e_identity
Premium Member
join:2003-09-10
Silver Spring, MD

e_identity

Premium Member

it takes all kinds

For me, Versus is one of two channels that I must have.
Versus has Tour de France coverage unavailable elsewhere.
While there is some online video of other races (e.g. Universal Sports has the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana live for free via internet), no one else has the TdF. I will personally leave Direct TV and not look back if they do not regain access to Versus. I am sure that I am in the minority WRT Versus (though they do have exclusive NHL coverage which seems like it might be important to a larger number of viewers than the Tour de France), but everone of the 500 stations that are available probably has a few dedicated viewers. Hope this gets worked out. FWIW, if I drop DirectTV, I won't be going to Comcast--so at least from the very, very narrow perspective of my business, both companies would do better to work this out.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: it takes all kinds

said by e_identity:

For me, Versus is one of two channels that I must have.
Versus has Tour de France coverage unavailable elsewhere.
While there is some online video of other races (e.g. Universal Sports has the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana live for free via internet), no one else has the TdF. I will personally leave Direct TV and not look back if they do not regain access to Versus. I am sure that I am in the minority WRT Versus (though they do have exclusive NHL coverage which seems like it might be important to a larger number of viewers than the Tour de France), but everone of the 500 stations that are available probably has a few dedicated viewers. Hope this gets worked out. FWIW, if I drop DirectTV, I won't be going to Comcast--so at least from the very, very narrow perspective of my business, both companies would do better to work this out.
Then simply make it a premium channel. If it's a channel of very narrow interest why force it down all of our throats?

BTW this really underscores why we need an a la carte pricing solution, stat.

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

1 recommendation

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Time for ala carte channel services

If we could all choose our channels individually, Comcast's decision to raise their rates for Versus by 20% wouldn't be such a big deal.

DirecTV could just pass this increased cost along to consumers who choose to make Versus part of their lineup (vs. absorbing the cost), and all would be done. Those customers who do not think that Versus is worth the price increase would drop it from their personal plan. If enough people would drop Versus under this situation, then Versus would get the message and perhaps adjust their "market price" downward-- an example of the markets working the way they should.

Instead providers are forced to take channels in packages, and producers bundle the good along with the bad and force everyone to pay. When will this cable channel welfare system ever end?

•••

mrbiggz
@kumc.edu

mrbiggz

Anon

Ala Carte Over the Internet?

Does anybody have a clue when cable networks will broadcoast over the internet like they do now over tv/cable? I'd be one of the first to drop Directv and go with a pc connected to my tv.

•••
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

viperlmw

Premium Member

More discussion

here: »www.dbstalk.com/showthre ··· t=163322
supertbone
join:2002-04-04
Pleasant Grove, UT

supertbone

Member

Comcast is doing the same with with MTN

Comcast also own the MTN channel, which carries all the Mountain West games, and they won't deal with Dish network.
unoriginal
Premium Member
join:2000-07-12
San Diego, CA

unoriginal

Premium Member

Re: Comcast is doing the same with with MTN

These regional college networks are exactly the kind of thing that are ripe for al a carte. I dont particularly want to pay extra for the Big 10 network, The MTN or the soon to arrive SEC network. Let the rabid sports fans pay separately for them and keep it off my lineup and bill please.
ackman
join:2000-10-04
Atlanta, GA

ackman

Member

interesting

So this is what media might result in? The media carriers become the content owners, where you must subscribe to their service in order to get specific channels that aren't anywhere else? Wow, free market capitalism is great, isn't it?

•••
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