Versus and DirecTV resumed negotiations about a week ago over their carriage dispute, but the talks evidently have yet to yield much light about a reconciliation. Comcast’s national sports network went dark on the No. 1 DBS operator on Sept. 1, when their contract expired. The sides remain apart, evidently entrenched over pricing and positioning issues, with DirecTV saying that Versus was seeking a 20% increase in license fees and that Versus should be located on a tier, as it is on Dish Network.

-lots more, with a recap of the history on Multichannel.com

In the latest TV provider breakdown from The Bridge show Telco TV services (Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse) continuing to take share in the TV provider market primarily at the expense of traditional cable MSOs (Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, etc.), while satellite provider’s (DirecTV, DISH) share inches upwards.

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I know most people don’t care about this story, but I love the smack talk and drama!

The disconnect between Versus and DirecTV grew louder Friday, with the programmer running ads in a number of newspapers for its displacement from the satellite operator’s air earlier this week.

Versus said it bought ads in eight newspapers, with its message headlined by the word “Worthless,” riffing off remarks made by the No. 1 DBS provider that demeaned its programming that were made after the network went dark on Sept. 1, following the expiration of their contract. The parties have not negotiated since then.

At that time, DirecTV called the Comcast-owned Versus “piggish” for pursuing a 20% price hike, while labeling the network as “basically a paid programming and infomercial channel with occasional sporting events of interest.”

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Versus is still dark on DirecTV, but more light is being shed in its skirmish with Comcast.  Here’s a brief synopsis.

DirecTV initially said it was about price, that Comcast was seeking a 20% hike in licensing fees for Versus.  Additionally DirecTV has said it is paying more for the service than other providers.   But Comcast says that isn’t so and that the issue is that DirecTV wanted to move the package into some digital sports tier ghetto on DirecTV where Versus would’ve been available to six million fewer DirecTV subscribers. 

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I hadn’t really weighed in much about what I think of the whole DirecTV vs. Versus kerfuffle.  Since I don’t have DirecTV I’m just an interested observer when it comes to the skirmish.  I can’t lie, I did find the war of the words amusing.

I don’t really have much of an opinion on which side is right and which is wrong.  Did the Comcast-owned Versus make unreasonable demands when it comes to carriage?   Is DirecTV merely being cheap, or is it a financially prudent decision for them?

These questions perhaps do have real answers, but  miss the point of what’s actually going on.   It’s not about right or wrong from the perspective of Versus and DirecTV (though understandably, it may be for DirecTV customers who enjoy Versus), it’s about negotiations and leverage.  The important question was: who has the most leverage?

That question was probably answerable a month ago, but let there be no doubt now. The answer is: it’s DirecTV.

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Update: apparently from DirecTV’s point of view, it’s “Comcast pulls Versus off DirecTV“, more thinking on the topic here.

As we’ve been writing August 31 was the deadline for DirecTV and Versus to come to an agreement on carriage. With the deadline passed on the east coast, it appears there was no resolution.  I’ve received a few reports that the channel has been dropped from DirecTV and gives this message:

Versus is no longer available on this channel

The web site graphics for DirecTV and Versus have not been updated as of this writing at (9;15pm PDT) from what we previously noted.

Now the question is whether they will work something out, and if so, how long will it take?  My bet is it will get worked out before NHL on Versus starts in early October.  But I’d probably only be willing to bet $5!

Update as of midnight, Versus went dark on DirecTV.  More thinking on this topic.

Duhn duhn DUHNNN. And that’s meant to be suspenseful music rather than sound like “done, done, done” because so far it appears no deal between DirecTV and Versus has been worked out to continue carriage of Versus on DirecTV.

Today, August 31 is the deadline.   My sense is they will get it figured out by midnight.  I’m not a DirecTV subscriber anymore, but I know from other posts we’ve done on this topic, there are at least a few DirecTV subscribers who really care about Versus.

As of 10:30AM PDT, I’ve seen no updates and DirecTV is still running the following blurb on the news page of its web site:

Update: 8pm PDT.  Still no updates, though the battle of words on the Internet persists.  The above image remains on DirecTV’s site and on Versus there is a link from a small graphic on Versus home page that links to a huge graphic that proclaims:  You are about to Lose Versus on DirecTV and goes on to add:

THEY ARE TAKING AWAY YOUR RIGHT TO IN-DEPTH COVERAGE OF THE SPORTS YOU LOVE… THE NHL, INDY CAR, WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING, PBR WORLD FINALS, THE TOUR DE FRANCE AND TOP RANKED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES INCLUDING #2 TEXAS AT WYOMING
AND #19 FLORIDA STATE AT #24 BYU.
CLICK HERE NOW TO KEEP VERSUS ON YOUR CHANNEL LINE-UP.

If you click the above link you are encouraged to

“ENTER YOUR INFORMATION BELOW TO SEND AN EMAIL TO DIRECTV DEMANDING THEY KEEP VERSUS.”

Broadcasting & Cable reports that DirecTV has notified its customers that it might drop the Comcast-owned sports channel Versus on September 1 unless the two sides can work out a carriage deal.

There are a lot of sports fans who have DirecTV, and Versus carries the gamut from college sports for certain conferences to extreme cage fighting to NHL games.

Normally my feeling is that these deals always get worked out in the eleventh hour.  Like when Time Warner Cable was threatening not to broadcast Viacom channels like Nickelodeon.  But the Viacom offerings are a pretty big part of any basic cable package.  Versus?  Not so much, really and there can’t be much love lost between DirecTV and Comcast.

So I’m not as sure this will be resolved by September 1.  Still, I’m guessing it gets worked out by October when Versus begins televising NHL games.  Versus is currently in around 75 million homes.