Sunbeam Television Shuts Out DIRECTV NFL Fans in Miami in Attempt to Extract 300 Percent Pay Increase
January 14 2012 - 12:30AM
Business Wire
Sunbeam Television, a Miami-based station owner, today denied
DIRECTV customers in its south Florida hometown access to their
local FOX station, blacking out this Saturday’s and Sunday’s NFL
divisional playoff games in an egregious attempt to extract a more
than 300 percent increase in fees. As a result of Sunbeam’s
actions, DIRECTV customers in Boston have also lost their local NBC
and CW affiliates.
DIRECTV made repeated requests to extend its agreement to carry
Sunbeam Television stations so negotiations could continue and to
avoid the loss of this afternoon’s NFC playoff game between the San
Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints, as well as tomorrow
afternoon’s contest between the NY Giants and defending NFL
Champion Green Bay Packers.
Not only did Sunbeam flat out refuse this request, they sent a
demand letter today dictating that the channels be removed
immediately from DIRECTV. This decision rests solely on the
shoulders of Sunbeam executives, so customers should call Sunbeam’s
corporate offices and insist the channels be restored so customers
aren’t placed in the middle while both sides work toward a deal to
enable everyone to move on.
Over the past 12 months, DIRECTV has achieved fair and equitable
agreements with more than 70 local station owners representing
hundreds of different TV channels (including stations in Boston and
Miami) and without any programming disruptions. More than 20 of
those agreements came within the past several weeks alone.
“There is always one outlier, like Sunbeam, who has no problem
committing an unthinkable abuse of the public trust in an effort to
shake down an excessive financial arrangement for themselves,” said
Derek Chang, executive vice president of Programming for DIRECTV.
“We have no problem compensating Sunbeam fairly, but we have to
take a stand against runaway greed and a shameless attempt to
extort a more than 300 percent fee increase that our customers risk
having to absorb. Sunbeam has completely disregarded its
obligations to the public, NFL fans and hundreds of thousands of
our loyal customers.”
Local broadcast station owners like Sunbeam operate under
Federal license to freely use the airwaves and have a
responsibility to all consumers to provide reasonable access to
their programming. Threats by station owners and forced blackouts
are a rising trend affecting other pay TV distributors, which has
not escaped the attention of the Federal Communications Commission
and members of Congress. DIRECTV will bring the Sunbeam matter to
the attention of both the Federal Communications Commission and
Congressional representatives from Sunbeam districts.
About DIRECTV
DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is one of the world’s leading providers of
digital television entertainment services delivering a premium
video experience through state-of-the-art technology, unmatched
programming and industry leading customer service to more than 30.8
million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S.,
DIRECTV offers its 19.7 million customers access to more than 170
HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound, access to
exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, Emmy-
award winning technology and higher customer satisfaction than the
leading cable companies for 11 years running. DIRECTV Latin
America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in
Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin
American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology,
programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television
experience to more than 11.1 million customers. DIRECTV sports and
entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks
(Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 60 percent
interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information
on DIRECTV, please visit www.directv.com.
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