AT&T Warns U-Verse Customers Of Possible Scripps Networks Exits
Contract Expirations Also Loom With Outdoor Channel, Bloomberg TV, EWTN, FamilyNet
John Eggerton --
AT&T has sent customers a postcard advising them of the upcoming expiration of a number of carriage agreements for its U-verse multichannel video service, warning them the channels could go missing soon if renewals are not struck.
On Oct. 31, carriage agreements expire with Scripps networks DIY, Food, Cooking, HGTV and Great American Country, as well as Outdoor Channel. There is a Nov. 30 deadline for FamilyNet and a Dec. 1 expiration for Bloomberg Television and Eternal Word Television Network.
According to a copy of the postcard supplied to Multichannel News, while AT&T says it is making "every effort" to reach deals, it also warns customers that there is "a possibility" that as of midnight on the above dates "we will no longer have the rights to carry the programming if a reasonable agreement cannot be reached."
It also used the card to update its viewers on the ongoing impasse with Hallmark Channels, saying that since customers were "denied a fair deal," they were not currently available.
The Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie channels are still not back on U-verse systems five weeks after a Sept. 1 deadline that failed to secure an agreement. But the two are now communicating, according to a Hallmark source familiar with the stand-off. An AT&T source had no comment.