Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the Denver- based regional sports programmer, has reached a carriage agreement with AT&T, returning its RSNs to AT&T’s DirecTV subscribers in 10 states.
The agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, ends a two-month impasse between the two companies. Altitude pulled its channels from AT&T’s pay TV properties on Aug. 31.
Altitude’s RSNs went dark to Dish Network customers on Aug. 29 and to Comcast subscribers on Aug. 31. As of Thursday night, those distributors had not yet reached a deal.
In a joint statement, the companies said: "Altitude and AT&T/DirecTV thank local sports fans for their patience while they worked toward this new agreement.
Pricing and minimum subscriber guarantees were at the heart of the AT&T dispute. According to reports, Altitude had claimed that AT&T was demanding a 50% reduction in rates. AT&T had held that Altitude was demanding high rate increases even though many of its customers don’t watch the channel. AT&T had said earlier that 95% of its subscribers in the 10 states affected watched the equivalent of less than one game per week. But the two appear to have worked out a compromise.
Altitude, owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, is available in 10 states -- Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. The RSN carries games and programming from the NHL Colorado Avalanche, the NBA Denver Nuggets, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth and college sports from the University of Denver.
