READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN

Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
AT&T U-Verse may be latest carrier to drop AMC channels
Published: 6/28/2012 11:32 AM
Last Modified: 6/29/2012 7:17 AM


Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Pau,left) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) star in "Breaking Bad" returning for its new season July 15 on AMC. FRANK OCKENFELS/AMC


AMC is extending its carriage dispute to include a second provider.

The cable channel, formerly known as American Movie Channel, may also be dropped from AT&T U-Verse later this month, according to deadline.com.

Due to a carriage dispute with Dish Network, earlier this month the channel was moved from 130 to 9609. Dish has already announced it will drop the channel unless negotiations over carriage fees are resolved. Their current agreement expires Saturday.

On Wednesday, AMC issued a statement about its newest carriage fight, this time with AT&T.

"We are disappointed that, just days before the July 15 season premiere of AMC's 'Breaking Bad,' we have not yet reached an agreement with AT&T that adequately reflects the popularity of our programming and AMC's position as a top tier network with acclaimed shows like 'The Walking Dead,' basic cable’s highest-rated scripted drama series.

"We have been consistently supportive partners of AT&T and are proud that our investment in original programming has provided so much value to all of our distribution partners. We hope AT&T will recognize this and quickly reach a fair agreement with us, so their viewers don't lose out."

AT&T's statement said that AMC Networks' AMC, IFC and We tv channels may be eliminated from its U-verse platform unless the two companies can resolve the dispute, reported the website.

Here is AT&T’s statement:

"We are making every effort to reach a fair agreement and continue providing these channels to our customers. Frankly, we're disappointed AMC Networks has decided to take its negotiations public, instead of working with us in good faith, especially since we’re still actively in negotiations.

"We’ve been in ongoing negotiations to renew this agreement, but AMC Networks is seeking an excessive rate increase in our overall fees for the right to deliver these channels. AMC Networks is asking that AT&T pay nearly double what we believe other competitors pay - including a smaller-sized competitor. We believe the rates they are seeking are disproportionate compared to the viewership we see across their channels.

“We don't think that’s reasonable, especially in these economic times, and we will continue to work toward a fair deal.

"There's an ongoing industry trend in which an increasing number of content providers seek unreasonable price increases from their service providers as those contracts expire. If we accept this cost increase from AMC Networks, it could result in higher prices for customers, and would only encourage other content providers to make similar demands.

"We don’t want customers to lose these channels, but we need to take a stand now to keep costs down while continuing to provide the quality programming customers want and deserve."

Stay tuned.


Reader Comments


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

tvtype

Rita Sherrow grew up with TV. Yes, it was the ever-present “sister” from another techno mother. At first look, it was instant "Like." From then on, the TV had to be on in every room while she studied, elementary school through college. An Air Force brat, she attended school in three states (Oklahoma, Montana and Georgia) and two foreign countries (Germany and Bermuda) and graduated from Broken Arrow High School and the University of Tulsa with a degree in journalism/advertising. She first interned in the advertising world but, when a J-School professor (who also covered politics for the Tulsa World) offered her an internship at the newspaper, she took him up on it. The rest is history. She has served as bridal editor, senior features writer for the women’s section, food editor and is television editor of the Tulsa World. In addition to writing about TV shows and interviewing the stars for “Scene” stories, she also writes a TV column for Weekend and produces the Sunday TV World listings magazine.

Subscribe to this blog










Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise | Privacy
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.