Rainbow Media, AT&T in Carriage Dispute

NEW YORK: Subscribers to AT&T’s U-verse IPTV platform could lose access to AMC, WE tv and IFC this week, if the operator is unable to reach a new carriage deal with Rainbow Media.

The current carriage deal between the two companies expired July 1, but the parties agreed to a two-week extension that expires at midnight on July 14. The spat comes just a few days before the highly anticipated season four premiere of AMC’s Mad Men.

“It is troubling that AT&T is threatening to yank AMC, WE tv and IFC, and leave their customers without the hottest show on television, AMC’s Mad Men, just before the premiere of the new season," Rainbow Media said in a statement. "AT&T is acting in an aggressive manner that puts their corporate interests ahead of their customers. We are negotiating in good faith with AT&T and are hopeful that we can reach an agreement as soon as possible so that our viewers don’t lose out."

A statement provided to World Screen Newsflash by AT&T notes: "We’re willing to continue to work toward reaching a fair agreement, but frankly, we seem to be at an impasse with Rainbow so we’re starting to let customers know that Rainbow may force us to remove their channels from our lineup on July 14. We want to reach a fair deal for our customers that reflects our growing subscriber base and that reflects the appropriate value of Rainbow content. Based on aggregate data we obtained from third-party industry sources and our own subscribers, some of the Rainbow channels are among the least-watched and most overpriced per viewer compared to other major programming providers. They’re also trying to force the renegotiation of a contract for one of their other channels that is not yet expired and force us to carry a new channel that wasn’t even formally presented to us until after the recent July 1 contract extension. We want our customers to know that we can’t and won’t give in to unreasonable deals that unfairly disadvantage our customers. However, if a fair agreement isn’t reached by July 14, Rainbow could require us to remove their programming to try to force us into an unfair deal. This is about protecting our customers and representing their interests to get the content they really want at a fair price."