Carriage Spat Between AT&T U-verse & Hallmark Channels

STUDIO CITY: Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel will be dropped from AT&T U-verse TV’s lineup if a new carriage agreement is not reached by August 31.

AT&T U-verse sent postcards on August 1 informing its customers they may lose both channels if an agreement is not reached in time. AT&T has notified Hallmark Channels of the possibility of a drop, yet negotiations are currently at a standstill.

Bill Abbott, the president and CEO of Hallmark Channels, said, “Hallmark Channels has been a good partner and supporter of AT&T U-verse since they launched their service, and we have been negotiating in good faith with them. We hope AT&T will recognize the extraordinary value of our channels and renew the carriage agreement. At the present time, however, talks are not progressing and it is looking more likely that Hallmark Channels will be dropped from AT&T. This would be a tremendous loss to viewers who look to Hallmark Channels, America’s most trusted family networks, for programming that connects people emotionally.”

Joan Gundlach, the executive VP of distribution, added, “AT&T U-verse TV recently went through a notable carriage renewal and is implementing the scare tactics it used to negotiate with another programmer against Hallmark Channels, one of the nation’s last surviving independent cable networks. It is disappointing that AT&T U-verse does not see the value we bring to their customers and that they would wield their power to strong-arm our channels.”

AT&T issued the following statement: "We are making every effort to reach a fair agreement and continue providing these channels to our customers. Frankly, we’re surprised that Hallmark has decided to take its negotiations public, instead of working with us in good faith, especially since we’ve made numerous offers to Hallmark. We’re disappointed that Hallmark is acting in a way that may punish viewers and is trying to charge AT&T more than what similarly-sized and smaller TV competitors pay for these channels. We want to continue to carry the channels under terms similar to our current agreement."

The disagreement comes just over a month after AT&T U-verse TV’s rift with Rainbow Media, which nearly resulted in the carriage loss of AMC, IFC and WE tv.