DirecTV

WDAY And DirecTV

The Fargo based television channel, WDAY TV recently hit the news for its ‘talks’ with DirecTV to extend their contract. The ABC affiliated channel said that the contracts for WDAZ and KMBY with DirecTV expired on May 30, which they want to renew. Interestingly, the also stated that DirecTV was acting slow to respond to their proposed contract negotiations.

According to WDAY representatives, the company sent their original carriage contract renewal proposal to DirecTV on January, but the satellite TV giant did not reply to it until May 16. In addition, when WDAY offered a counter-proposal in a couple of days to meet their terms, DirecTV did not respond to that at all. Though WDAY has not provided any details of the offer by DirecTV, a spokesperson said that the proposed bid was quite below than the current market rates.

WDAY TV further said in a press release that if the talks with DirecTV do not come to a mutual agreement, subscribers would get their programming free over-the-air. The company said on its website, “We deeply regret the inconvenience DirecTV’s actions may cause you,” and added, “you can cancel your satellite service from DirecTV and receive the programs from DirecTV’s competitors.”

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In response to the remarks made by WDAY, AT&T representative, Mark Giga said that they want to keep the contract alive and come to terms with the TV station provider. “DirecTV is working to keep WDAY and WDAZ in our Fargo, Valley City and Grand Forks customers’ line-ups even though the station’s owner Forum Communications is threatening to block both stations’ signals from reaching their homes,” he said.

However, he further added that “Forum (Communications) is demanding a significant increase in their current fees just to let these same families keep watching shows that remain available for free over-the-air on channels 21 and 8 and often online at ABC.com or CWTV.com.”

“Forum has unfortunately suspended its stations from other Fargo, Valley City and Grand Forks providers’ customers before, so we appreciate our customers’ patience as we attempt to resolve this matter quickly, reasonably and with the least inconvenience,” Giga told the media.