Versus off of DirecTV
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 1, 2009 11:09 AM EDT
in MMA News
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With the August 31 deadline having passed Versus has been removed from DirecTV. The LATimes wrote about the reason for the dispute between the satellite giant and the sports network last week:
Robert Mercer, director of public relations for DirecTV, said: "Versus' overall ratings are poor and have not increased nearly enough to justify what we're paying them, let alone the significant increase they're asking for.
"It is a significant rate hike and the deal is discriminatory because Versus is not offering the same package options as other distributors."...
On DirecTV, Versus ranks 61st among 74 English-advertising supported cable networks.
Obviously to MMA fans the story is the fact that WEC shows are going to become unavailable for a large percentage of viewers. The loss in eyeballs will no doubt result in a loss of cash for the promotion, but also for fighters who are given sponsorship deals based on the number of eyeballs that will be on their fights.
From an overall sporting perspective the coverage change comes just days before the start of the college football season. With Versus having a deal with the Big 12 as well as carrying a small number of Pac-10 and Mountain West games the pressure to work out a deal will increase with every passing day.
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The rescheduled wec date wasn’t a coincidence… by then a deal will be worked out.
A baby can only hold its breath for so long.
I needs my Sports Soup and Fanarchy
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 1, 2009 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
my red white black and blue summer is RUINED.
by woooburn on Sep 1, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Why should they be fair and balanced?
that’s a confusing thing to say. They ARE one side of the issue…why would they be like “due to equal responsibility…”
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 1, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
They obviously can say whatever they want, but it’s definitely a biased statement. I’m sure most folks see that, and it may hurt them in the long run b/c it’s so obviously one sided.
When my local cable company
decided to play hardball with ESPN, ESPN decided to run commercials saying essentially “Oh, by the way, your cable company may drop ESPN. You might want to give them a call about that.” It didn’t take long for the cable company to crumple. If MMA fans are really concerned about this issue with DirecTV, maybe a united front would help resolve any differences.
There are a number of problems...
one of which is that Versus is owned by Comcast…a direct competitor of DirecTV. Comcast has proved in the past to be pretty damn stubborn on these things (see the length of time it took to get the Big 10 Network negotiations done)…etc
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 1, 2009 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Just one more stick in the pile of reasons why, UFC needs to absorb the WEC and get off of VS all together.
www.knees2thehead.com
Check it out!!
Is it possible for Zuffa to use this to get out of its commitment to WEC on Versus?
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Grammar Alert
There’s no such as “off of” in English.
That headline should say “Versus off DirectTV”
So sad.
Anybody know the % of homes in the US that use Direct TV? I’m one of them.
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