December 31, 2010 in City

Local FOX affiliate, DirecTV talks break down

Addy Hatch The Spokesman-Review

DirecTV said early this evening that its customers in Spokane no longer will be able to view Fox affiliate KAYU-TV after midnight following the breakdown of negotiations between the company and KAYU’s parent, Northwest Broadcasting.

El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV said in a press release that it has been unable to reach a deal with Northwest Broadcasting, which owns KAYU as well as stations in Yakima, Medford, Ore., Laredo, Texas and Binghampton, N.Y. The two companies are negotiating the fees DirecTV will pay to carry those stations’ broadcasts.

DirecTV reached fee agreements with other big broadcast media companies, a company news release noted.

“Northwest Broadcasting… has decided they would rather deprive our customers of their local channels than make even an honest and good faith attempt to reach a fair deal in contract negotiations,” DirecTV said in the release.

Jon Rand, of KAYU, could not immediately be reached for comment.

A statement on the station’s website, however, said, “Over-the-air television stations, such as KAYU, spend a huge portion of their operating expense and capital investment to provide quality over-the-air signals. It is only fair to expect that if a cable company or satellite service wants to re-sell that signal to make a profit, that the broadcaster be fairly compensated for the use of their content.”

The statement says viewers can watch KAYU over the air via antenna, or through another satellite or cable operator.

22 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Alfredo on December 31 at 6:49 p.m.
I’ve never understood this. The local channels used to be able to be seen without cost but because of revenue slides they’re demanding cable companies subsidize them. Maybe they just need to “tighten their belts” a little.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on December 31 at 6:55 p.m.
Always funny when you read about two corporations that make millions each year fighting with each other of what amounts to pocket change for them. The only people who truly suffer are us the worthless servants apparently.
beakaye on December 31 at 7:24 p.m.
Big business BS….
west on December 31 at 7:26 p.m.
yawn…..
Shadedmuse on December 31 at 7:41 p.m.
Well it looks like people in Spokane will not get the lies and misinformation of sucicide cult leader Reverand Glen beck, bill lufa sponge oraly and sean Insanity. good bye faux news we are better off with out your mis-information.
CalJones on December 31 at 7:59 p.m.
@Shadedmuse - you are an idiot, or just don’t know how to read.

“DirecTV said early this evening that its customers in Spokane no longer will be able to view Fox affiliate KAYU-TV”
DIRECT-TV will no longer air KAYU-TV (i.e. American Idol and The Simpsons) not Fox News.
Don’t let your extreme bias screw with the words you read on the page….
ditaylor on December 31 at 8:15 p.m.
Hallelujah! ABSOLUTELY..NO GREAT LOSS. Do we really need Fox garbage…nope a lot of other junk out there too, but their whole channel is garbage in, garbage out!
Equinox on December 31 at 8:18 p.m.
Interesting. The Spokesman forgot to include this from a news release:
“DIRECTV sharply rebuked Northwest Broadcasting today for attempting to “extort” a more than 600 percent fee increase to carry its local channels and forcing DIRECTV to take down broadcast networks in five markets. DIRECTV asked Northwest to keep the channels up while negotiations continued or bring the issue to arbitration to avoid any programming disruption to its customers, but Northwest refused and demanded the channels be taken down.”
Source:
http://investor.directv.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=540398
Shadedmuse on December 31 at 8:52 p.m.
KHQ extended the deadline to jan 5, fox sounds like they are cutting of thier nose to spie their face, I guess I will just watch NBC or CBS of FOX 11 from L.A or FOX 4 from NYC what will be avaible when FOX spokane goes buy By.
addyh on December 31 at 8:56 p.m.
Let’s keep it civil tonight folks, please.
addyh on December 31 at 9:06 p.m.
J. Doe - this “mommy” has the ability to delete your comments. Happy New Year to you too.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on December 31 at 9:11 p.m.
Rock on Addy, I was going to give some smart a++ reply to J Doe, but I figured his stupid comment would be deleted anyways, no need for what he was bringing to the table, thanks for keeping it clean.
terrymr on January 01 at 12:03 a.m.
Lame … Frankly the faux drama over the Directv contracts is getting boring. So they force us to use an antenna to receive your signal - do they get paid for that ? How do they plan to make up for lost advertising revenue ?
Orange on January 01 at 1:33 a.m.
Comcast
Shadedmuse on January 01 at 3:19 a.m.
Comcrap sucks, friends dont let friends get Comcrap.
Bob_Knows on January 01 at 7:26 a.m.
We have DirecTV because we live outside of cable area. We enjoyed FOX/KAYU news and sports programs. DirecTV says they wanted to charge 600% more than other broadcast stations, but DirecTV only offered them fees equal to what is paid to other broadcast stations.
KAYU needs to get its demands in line with the industry. We viewers are getting shafted.
misjustice on January 01 at 9:45 a.m.
I quit Comcast like a one quits a bad addiction; haven’t missed it. Got me one of those fancy schmancy teevee converter boxes, a new fangled antenna and voila, I can receive KAYU as well as many other channels; for free. Love the KAYU Sunday night line up, Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad; cartoons for big kids!
; )
Shadedmuse on January 01 at 2:02 p.m.
Well at least we have two CBS stations on Directv. KREM and KLEW out of lewistown.
CorvetteGary on January 02 at 12:15 p.m.
Shoot I remember when faux TV was free and the customers where the ones who decided if they stayed on the air or not. Back then they cared about what thier customers wanted. But now they want a 600% raise above others? And want us as customers to spend cash money out of our pockets just to watch a signal the is still digital but clearly is second rate compared to the clarity of Direct TV. That’s not customer service that’s self serving corperate B.S. Thanks faux TV for making it so very crystal clear who the important party in these negotiations where to you…
Signed The Whole Taylor Family
(who is currently boycotting the Faux TV channel wherever we go and visit. Sharing our opinions with all who will listen.)
poemeister67 on January 02 at 3:15 p.m.
Northwest Broadcasting are thugs and extortionists at best. They must of received advice on how to negotiate from North Korea. I wish DirectTV would switch us to the Seattle Fox station. I live in Twisp and have to commiserate with the Spokane local stations. Ughh!
donmarkwa on January 03 at 12:09 p.m.
I can’t pick Spokane channels up by antenna. The thing that really makes me mad is that half the NFL playoff games and Super Bowl won’t be shown unless they get their acts together soon.
tomsmith on January 14 at 1:06 p.m.
I have canceled my expensive Satellite, and am watching everything online. The missing piece was always live sports, but I came across (through an examiner article about watching NFL football online) a new(ish) company ivi.tv that gets me ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX live for $4.99/mo. It’s legal since they pay a royalty to broadcasters. I love it! I can watch Fox out of New York City, or Seattle from the shadow of Mount Spokane! So who cares about the Spokane blackout off DirecTV? Not me!