Thank goodness for the BlogPress app for the iPhone which allowed me to be on top of the breaking news earlier today regarding Comcast and DirecTV coming to an agreement on Versus. If you don’t know by now, the two parties agreed to have the all-sports network return to DirecTV on its old channel and for about the same price Comcast had been paying for carriage. It took over six months to hash out, but at least the NHL playoffs are back on the satellite provider where it belongs.
We have the joint official statement from Versus and DirecTV.
DIRECTV and VERSUS Reach Carriage Agreement; Sports Net Returns to DIRECTV Lineup Today
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 2010 - DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.
"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.
"We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."
It’s about time. For the record, Versus returned officially at 6 p.m. ET with Whacked Out Sports being the first program carried by DirecTV in 2010.
