Such agreements could end up haunting Scripps if a new money-making distribution scheme evolves that AT&T can use -and- get to keep all of the profits.Ĭable companies might also be unhappy if AT&T won concessions they themselves don’t have.
It’s anticipatory and it’s without a business model,” Johnson said. “They are asking for broad, unlimited distribution on non-linear platforms that go well beyond emerging media technologies. Johnson told the Chicago Tribune AT&T was trying to negotiate for broad usage rights of their programming for services that don’t even exist yet. Scripps reactivated their "" website to fight another programming fee battle When a cable company or programmer tells you it is not about the money, it is all about the money. AT&T claimed Scripps was pulling a flim-flam - trying to stick the phone company with an inferior deal that restricted how they can use the basic cable networks, all at prices higher than their cable competitors were paying.īut when Lansing claimed the dispute was not about money, reality was also yanked from the lineup. Scripps’ saw AT&T’s actions as nothing short of a Pearl Harbor sneak attack. “Accepting their demands would have restrained our ability to deliver our content to our viewers in new and innovative ways.”įood Network President Brooke Johnson threw a HissyFit, claiming AT&T yanked the channels while the two sides were still at the negotiating table.Īs Friday wore on, both sides defended their respective positions. “AT&T U-verse demanded unreasonably broad video rights for emerging media where business models have not even been established,” Lansing said. “We reached an agreement in principle with AT&T U-verse on the distribution fees we would receive for these networks well in advance of last month’s contract deadline.” “Let me start by saying this impasse is not about money,” said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks.
Scripps’ officials hurried out a statement: When Scripps’ officials demurred Friday morning, AT&T simply pulled the plug on Food TV, HGTV, the Cooking Channel, as well as lesser-watched Great American Country and DIY Networks. If programmers want more money, AT&T argues, they’d better also be willing to deal on how that programming gets watched. Programmers trying to play hardball over fees paid by cable, satellite, and phone company providers occasionally get the ball thrown back at them, which is precisely what happened Friday when Scripps-Howard found their popular networks thrown off of AT&T’s U-verse, even though the companies had agreed on financial terms.Īt issue - AT&T wants to distribute programming it pays for over new mediums, ranging from video on demand, online viewing, and even wireless watching through smartphone applications. AT&T's "Fair Deal" website claims the company is fighting for lower programming costs.
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