DirecTV says that Raycom’s behavior during recent retransmission consent negotiations was meant to antagonize the public. Raycom countered that the company with a strong record of doing that is in fact DirecTV, and has the stats to back it up.
DirecTV said the brief service interruption was a “contrived blackout.” Chief content officer Dan York said, “Broadcast station groups who ransom their content back into their communities at exorbitant fees deserve the scrutiny of the Federal Communications Commission and local Congressional representatives. Raycom’s intentional recent black outs of DISH, Cox and now DIRECTV customers creates an even greater sense of urgency for lawmakers to review and overhaul this anti-consumer retransmission consent process once and for all.”
Raycom countered that it has negotiated more than 200 retrans agreements without resort to a blackout, a 99% success rate. Meanwhile, DirecTV is one of only three companies it has ever had a problem with.
Raycom pointed out the following:
*DirecTV earned $2.3 BILLION dollars in 2013, and their profits were up 14%, yet they profess to be “fighting to hold costs down for their subscribers.”
*DirecTV has removed stations from its lineup at least 12 times in the last 3 years as a negotiating and political tactic, including another broadcaster, just last week.
