AT&T and Fox Networks Group have renewed a multi-year carriage deal to distribute Fox programming across AT&T’s video platforms -- DirecTV, DirecTV Now and AT&T U-verse.
According to AT&T, the deal includes Fox’s owned and operated local broadcast stations in 17 cities, 22 regional sports networks, cable channels FS1, FS2, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, BabyTV, and Spanish-language services Fox Deportes, Nat Geo Mundo and Fox Life, as well as the Fox Soccer Plus pay-per-view service.
“We are pleased to have closed a multi-year deal with Fox for their entire array of content. Our customers will continue to enjoy their programming live and on-demand on all their devices, both at home and on-the-go,” said AT&T chief content officer and senior executive vice president Daniel York in a statement. “Fox has worked with us in this deal to deliver more choice for consumers and better value to AT&T customers.”
The deal comes as Fox is nearing the finish line in its deal to sell much of its cable content and movie studio assets to The Walt Disney Co. That deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
AT&T closed on its purchase of Time Warner Inc. in July after it received the regulatory green light from U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon. The U.S. Department of Justice, which had earlier tried to block that deal on antitrust grounds, is appealing that decision.
“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with AT&T through this wide-ranging agreement which ensures that our top-rated entertainment and sports programming will remain broadly available to DirecTV, DirecTV NOW and U-Verse customers for the foreseeable future,” Fox Networks Group president of distribution Mike Biard said in a statement.
