NBC And FOX Network

Many local bars were not able to watch the first game of the World Series last year, as they were greeted with a black screen on their television due to the dispute between the cable service provider and channels. However, they were able to catch the actions of the remaining matches when the cable provider entered into a carriage agreement with the channels.

Many bar managers and owners believed that they would not have to face any blackouts in the future. However, DirecTV has proven these bar owners wrong, as bars in Greater Lafayette area regularly experienced game blackouts since the beginning of World Series on both NBC and FOX network affiliates.

A major portion of bars usually subscribe to DirecTV as their cable provider. This is because DirecTV is the only cable service provider that offers full National Football League package to businesses. However, the recent blackouts have disappointed them all.

The owner of Bobby T’s Pub, Robert Turner said, “If you’re a sports bar you have to have DIRECTV because they have exclusive rights to the NFL package. They have a monopoly on the ticket.” Turned added that the bars were filled with people to watch the blacked-out game.

Turner and other bar owners stated that when they reached out to DirecTV for complaining against the blackout of the games, they replied that the blackout was a result of ongoing contract negotiations between the provider and local channels. However, a recent statement made the communications representative of DirecTV, Tamara Rader, stated that the blackout of games were actually due to technical issues.

DirecTV Cable Provider

“We are currently unable to provide the FOX signal to these customers due to technical issues. We expect to resolve those technical issues soon,” Rader said. Commenting on that, the general manger at Professor Joe’s Sports Pub & Pizzeria, Kristine Brower said that there are no patterns to which games are being blacked out and there is even no notice, which indicates that the games are being blacked out.

“It’s been totally random. The World Series game was the first time. Three weeks later there was a Sunday night football game. And this past Sunday it was the 4:30 p.m. football game. We had no heads up,” Brower said. However, reports from several reliable sources indicate that DirecTV is determined to solve the issue and to end the blackout of the games in a few weeks time.

Great Viewing Experience

The telecom giant AT&T is determined to transform the in-room entertainment for lodging guests and hotels through the DRE (DIRECTV Residential Experience) with DIRECTV CINEMA. Reports from several reliable sources indicate that AT&T will offer features such as interactive program guide, hottest new Pay Per View releases, premium content and select DVR features to customers in addition to the existing DRE features.

This means that guests will be able to access the entire content library of popular networks such as SHOWTIME and HBO. In addition to that, the telecom industry also stated that they are planning to add the contents from Encore, Starz, Cinemax, and other major networks in the near future.

However, guests will not have to login, authenticate, or subscribe to an account in order to enjoy this exciting offering from AT&T. Guests will be able to watch whatever they want, whenever they want. That too, on the best screen available to them (on the hotel room HDTV).

The vice president of commercial DIRECTV sales for AT&T, Doug Eichler recently said, “We are excited to put control of the latest and greatest content and technology in the hands of hotels and their guests. Properties with DRE have an advantage because they can offer their guests some of the comforts of home.”

DirecTV Cinema

DIRECTV CINEMA with On Demand offers an incredible viewing experience to guests. The provider does this by using an on-premises video storage and caching server. Guests will be able to enjoy numerous other benefits through this server such as significantly reduced cost of long-term high-speed internet access and minimize guest Wi-Fi usage through video streaming.

In addition to that, AT&T will also offer On Demand Equipment and DIRECTV CINEMA to the hotels, who have currently subscribed to the DRE for zero additional charges. AT&T also noted that the properties, who subscribe to the DRE, would be able to offer guests customized TV messaging, express checkout, and a complete folio review.

AT&T’s DRE is currently available in more than 4,500 hotel locations in the country and it includes some of the properties managed by Starwood, Hyatt, Best Western, and others. Reports indicate that AT&T is also planning to expand the DRE to several other locations in the United States in the upcoming months.

AT&T Channel Agreement

WISC-TV was removed from the channel lineup of AT&T U-Verse a few days ago. Reports indicate that WISC-TV had made multiple offers to the cable provider in order to resolve the dispute and to make their contents available to AT&T U-Verse customers. However, the media giant AT&T responded that they are not willing to accept any of these offers.

The vice president and general manager for WISC-TV, Tom Keeler said, “After rebuffing our many attempts to find a fair solution, one of two things is clear. The enormous, multi-billion dollar company AT&T either hasn’t bothered to notice a relatively small number of subscribers in one Midwestern market or they don’t place any value on our local station.”

As a result of this dispute, AT&T U-Verse customers were not able to access the contents of WISC-TV and CBS. This means that AT&T U-Verse customers will miss the News 3 local newscasts and many other popular programs such as the NFL playoffs, NCIS, 60 Minutes, and The Big Bang Theory.

However, officials from WISC-TV stated that the contents of the channel will be available to all the viewers in South Central Wisconsin over the air, but users will need an antenna for that. They also added that they expect a fair payment from cable companies, as they are using the contents offered by the station to make huge profits.

The parent company of WISC-TV, Morgan Murphy Media, was able to sign agreements with many cable service providers in Wisconsin over the last few weeks, although the company has failed to reach a settlement with AT&T. Officials from WISC-TV claimed that AT&T has refused to pay a fair settlement to the station.

DirecTV Subscribers

Keeler said, “We can’t simply hope that AT&T suddenly wants to play fair. Unfortunately, we have to recommend viewers switch providers since there seems to be no desire for AT&T U-verse to come to an agreement.” He also added that the contents offered by the station would be available through all other cable providers in the region.

On the other hand, AT&T representatives said that the local station is demanding a bigger settlement fee and that is the reason for the blackout of these channels. Officials from AT&T also added that they are trying to reach a fair settlement agreement with the local station.