DirecTV is the choice of many Miami residents, and from the number of DirecTV dishes you see about town, they are becoming even more popular. With DirecTV you can also get all your local TV stations – without having to connect a digital antenna to your home. Well, you used to be able to get all the local TV stations in Miami… until last week.
Sunbeam Television, owners of Channel 7 WSVN, a local FOX affiliate, presented DirecTV with a reported rate increase of over 300% to carry the local South Florida channel. While DirecTV claims they have negotiated pricing with over 70 local stations in the last year, many of which are larger and more popular than WSVN, they have been unable to reach an agreement on pricing, and so South Florida DirecTV subscribers were seeing a black screen in place of WSVN.
That black screen has been replaced with the following message:
“The owner of this station has unfortunately forced DirecTV to temporarily remove it from your lineup despite our repeated attempts to keep the station up. While we regret the decision, typically disruptions of this sort last a short time.â€
Interestingly enough, a 1934 law requires that if the tables were turned, WSVN could force DirecTV to carry their local signal, without compensation, as a “must-carry” station.
While WSVN may think they are holding out for the right reasons, their viewers are not happy with them at all. We spoke to a local downtown Miami Sports Bar manager who ended up asking me for my assistance in trying to get their digital antenna connected to get Channel 7. “We can’t get the NFL game without it – and our customers are expecting the game,” she said.
If they can’t reach a settlement, how will customers feel? Well, here’s how I look at it: it’s a big enough challenge to get up and turn the channel if a remote control isn’t handy. How painless will it be for DirecTV subscribers to:
- Go the the store and buy a Digital antenna
- Hook up digital antennas on each TV set in their home
- Change the input to terrestrial TV from HDMI/DirecTV and select channel 7 when they want to watch.
I say not many, if any, are going to run out and get the antenna at all. Instead, they’ll consume FOX shows on Hulu, Amazon or Netflix at their own convenience – who needs to record the shows off the air anyway? As for local news, all the other local channels are still present – and their viewership will INCREASE because of WSVNs high pricing being asked of DirecTV. (This negotiation also affects two Boston stations (WHDH and WLVI) as well. They are also “dark” at this time.)
DirecTV Forums kind of sums it up well in this Q&A:
Why don’t you just give them what they want so I can resume watching my Sunbeam stations?
We’re more than willing to compensate Sunbeam fairly. We’ve worked out deals with more than 70 different station owners in the past year, including more than 20 of those in the past several weeks. Those cover hundreds of different local stations, many of which are bigger and more popular than Sunbeam’s. Nobody deserves the more than 300 percent raise Sunbeam is demanding during any economy, let alone this one, and DIRECTV cannot ask our customers like you to risk having to absorb such an unnecessary expense. We strive to give you the very best television experience at the most reasonable value, and Sunbeam is simply demanding an astronomical amount that is far above fair market value.
If you are a DirecTV consumer and aren’t happy about the lack of WSVN programming, give them a call to settle this fairly and quickly: 305-795-2777
DirecTV Press Release RE: Sunbeam Broadcasting
Sunbeam Television Shuts Out DIRECTV NFL Fans in Miami In Attempt to Extract 300 Percent Pay Increase
Sunbeam Pulls WSVN (Miami) and WHDH/ WLVI (Boston) Off Of DIRECTV, Refuses Request to Keep Channels Up While Talks Continue Leaving Their Viewers Out in the Cold
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 14, 2012 — 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.â€
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.
Source: Miami New Times / DirecTV
