Is DIRECTV about to drop the Versus Network?
Speculation continues as the current carriage agreement between DIRECTV and Versus expires at Midnight on August 31st. While the impact won’t be huge immediately if a resolution isn’t hammered out, it could leave many hockey fans out in the cold in early October when the NHL season starts.
The dispute matches up the two biggest players in pay television, DIRECTV and Comcast. Versus is owned by Comcast, and it doesn’t sound like either side is willing to budge in the carriage dispute. Money of course is generally at the center of these disputes, with Comcast of course wanting to DIRECTV to pay more money for the right to carry Versus.
DIRECTV has sidestepped many of the carriage disputes that have come up in the past few years. They have been able to leverage their relationship with the NFL and the Sunday Ticket package into an agreement to carry the NFL Network for several years. In addition, DIRECTV was able to reach an early agreement with the Big Ten Network and a 2008 agreement to carry the Mtn network for sports fans out west.
On the other hand, Comcast fought long and hard with the NFL before finally hammering out an agreement earlier this year to carry the all football network. With the NFL and DIRECTV on the same side for so long, is Comcast finally taking its shot back at the satellite TV company?
Hard to say, obviously Comcast is in business to make as much money as possible, but is Versus really the tool that will bring damage to DIRECTV? Its hard to make that argument. While Versus does have the main NHL contract, it doesn’t offer a whole lot beyond that. Tour de France coverage and college football coverage of the Pac-10, Big 12, and Mountain West can also be found on Versus. Third tier sports like IRL racing and MMA are also found on the Comcast owned property.
Formerly called the Outdoor Life Network, Versus changed its name in 2007. Estimates place Versus penetration at 75 million households, though it is unclear on how many of DIRECTV’s 18 million customers have access to the network. It is available with the DIRECTV Choice Xtra bundle and higher priced packages. The NHL Center Ice package will be available on both DIRECTV and Comcast, and is not affected by the Versus dispute.
Comcast may pull a few die hard hockey fans away from DIRECTV if a prolonged dispute results. Beyond that Versus (and the NHL) needs DIRECTV a lot more than DIRECTV needs Versus.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The NHL, IRL, PBR and others should be able to back out their contract with Versus, if Versus is unable to provide the ~18 million Directv viewers they promised. I will miss it, but not switch back to cable. Ever.
This happened when we were with Dish Network and we switched over to Direct TV as a result. We are unable to get Cable, even if we wanted it. This seems unfair to Rural America who provide a great many viewers. We get nearly all our sports on this channel, including the only access to Professional Bull Riding.
we have lost Mariner Baseball, Trailblazer basketball,and PBR Bullriding by losing Versus. if we cant get our favorite sports programs. We intend to cancel our subscription with direct tv. Sorry .
The only reason I went with Direct TV was because you had the PBR. Now I see no reason to keep you
I signed with direct because of the outstanding outdoors and sports that versus has. If you can’t resolve this problem very soon I am not going to contiue to pay for a service you are charging me for.
I really enjoy my direct service, but I am not going to play money games very long Please think of your loyal viewers
I have had direct tv for 10+ years. First UT football game was on versus which was dropped by Direct tv the prior week. I Paid Per View $30.00 to see the football game on direct tv and the game was cut off at 9:00 pm Central in the THIRD Quarter. Apparentely I paid direct tv for 3 hours only not the entire game. After many frustrating calls to “Tech Support”, tough luck not our fault the usual no refund.
I am a Dish Subscirber and a die hard hockey fan. I would switch carrier only for the NHL but agree with the comment, Versus needs Direct a lot more then the other way around. It’s still a growing network that deserves a lot more but it is far from being an ESPN yet.