The No. 3 U.S. pay TV provider, which controls just under 13 million bundled video subscriptions across its DirecTV satellite TV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse platforms called Diamond's fierce bankruptcy court battle with MLB "stupid and ultimately pointless," and failing to address Diamond's core business issues, namely the impacts of cord-cutting.

Further, DirecTV said it expects a reduction in the rate it has to pay the Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary, now that contracts for key pro Bally Sports team constituents -- namely baseball's San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, and the NBA's Phoenix Suns -- have either been torn up amid Chapter 11 or have been allowed to expire.

DirecTV lamented the fact that it hasn't been immediately offered “immediate rate relief” for the loss of the teams from the Bally Sports umbrella.

Of note: Diamond's distribution contract with DirecTV to carry the Bally Sports channels expire this fall, so does its carriage deal with the nation's No. 1 pay TV provider, Comcast, which controls 15 million pay TV homes. The No. 2 pay TV operator Charter Communications is set to expire this winter.




Link
https://www.nexttv.com/news/bally-sports...riage-wars

DirecTV claims renewal negotiations with Diamond Sports Group ‘have barely begun’: The Diamond Sports Group shouldn't take a renewal from DirecTV for granted. Diamond assuming that a deal will get done with DirecTV is foolish and naive. DirecTV knows how much power it has in these negotiations, and knows how much Diamond needs to get a deal done. If Diamond doesn’t budge in negotiations, DirecTV knows that it could cripple the company if it walks away.


Link
https://awfulannouncing.com/bally/direct...begun.html