By Steve Cavendish | AT&T’s U-verse service dropped Food Network, HGTV, Cooking Channel and other Scripps networks from its lineup Friday morning after the two sides could not reach a carriage agreement.
The channels were immediately replaced on thousands of U-verse customers’ receivers in the Chicago area.
Food Network and HGTV are among the most popular niche networks on cable, with their most popular shows reaching millions of viewers.
The apparent hangup is U-verse’s desire to deliver Scripps video via other means than just television. As the number of eyeballs watching programming via mobile devices has increased, cable companies have sought to be the providers of that video.
“Let me start by saying this impasse is not about money,” said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks. “We reached an agreement in principle with AT&T U-verse on the distribution fees we would receive for these networks well in advance of last month’s contract deadline.”
“AT&T U-verse demanded unreasonably broad video rights for emerging media where business models have not even been established,” Lansing said. “Accepting their demands would have restrained our ability to deliver our content to our viewers in new and innovative ways.”
A statement from AT&T denied this, claiming that Scripps was offering “inferior access to their content for our customers on other platforms, even though other competitors get this at much lower prices. With such an uneven playing field, they are harming AT&T’s ability to provide customers with a new video choice.”
The two sides had negotiated past their Oct. 31 deadline and as recently as Wednesday a spokesman for U-verse told The Tribune that he remained optimistic that a deal would be done. The deal had featured none of the antagonism that Scripps high-profile negotiation with Cablevision had earlier this year when the New York cable system dropped the network for three weeks. Scripps waged a very visible PR campaign before and after that deadline.
What this means for Food Network, HGTV and other fans of Scripps networks (including Great American Country and DIY network) who subscribe to U-verse is that they are out of luck for time being as the two sides slug it out.
AT&T’s iptv service is one of the top 10 video providers in the country with 2.7 million subscribers. U-verse began an aggressive campaign in the Chicago suburbs almost two years ago and claims to be available to more than a million households in the area.
I certainly hope that AT&T knows how many uVerse subscribers they will lose if they do not renew this contract. Besides the non-cable channels and a couple of sports channels these are the only others my entire family watches.
“AT&T U-verse demanded unreasonably broad video rights for emerging media where business models have not even been established,” he (John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks) said. “Accepting their demands would have restrained our ability to deliver our content to our viewers in new and innovative ways.” Thanks for explaining this in a simple way. Scripps does not deliver their content; they rely on carriers such as cable and satellite to deliver.
Big mistake!! First Hallmark Channels and now this!! I’ve been an ATT U-Verse customer since they came to my neighborhood. Going to go now and look up the phone number for Time Warner! Fortunately I have that option!!
Thankfully, I’m staying with DirecTV. I can’t get UVerse yet, but without these channels, I am not as interested.
read this crap!
I don’t have Uverse but I do watch those channels often on Comcast. However I am sick of paying 2 arms and a leg for 500 channels I don’t want just to get the 8 I do want.
As a customer, I would rather enjoy life than complain about what channel isn’t available anymore. ATT is trying to get a better price for their customers, something comcast doesn’t understand. Come on over to comcast and pay double – I’m sure we can all afford to make the rich richer.
I’d switch to Uverse if it was available in my area.
Rates should be adjusted to reflect the loss of programming!!!!!
It’s amazing how you all accept Scripps’ statement and blame AT&T. Scripps has become all about money-grubbing and not delivering quality “how-to” programming. Their networks are now filling up with reality tv shows about people back-stabbing and attacking each other to get ahead. I’m not quite sure how this is supposed to enrich our lives.
Glad I have Comcast/Xfinity. They even have added the Cooking channel.
I’ve been a customer of U-verse since June and have liked it but I will go back to Comcast in a heartbeat if they don’t put these channels back on!!!
Google TV will stomp all of these guys and the TV distribution network model will go the way of the newspaper. And then Dish/directv/ATT/Cable outlets will cry all day long. I am not a big Google fan but it seems as if the writing is on the wall. AppleTv is going to the streaming model. It’s a coming….
We have been very satisfied with U-Verse but the main channels we watch are now gone. It sounds as though Scripps is being unfair. Please fix this or we will change to a company that offers what we want.
U-Verse rocks! Echo you nailed it, they are just trying to keep prices down for their customers!
What will I do without House Hunters? They need to reach an agreement…
This is all Scripp’s doing. The companies are over-valuing their peoduct to near extortion levels. Unlike the corporate ***kissers that follow this news with their own greed to guide them, I don’t blame AT&T. Many networks are demanding ridiculous prices for lame content and the corporate environment is encouraging the gouging of cash-strapped viewers. This is AT&T trying to hold back this piracy and, as a U-verse subscriber, I support them.
Hard to tell who’s the problem here,but it’s simple for me.Get the stations back or it’s Hello Comcast(ughh!)
Dish and Fox just went through this last week for all FOX programming but got settled. Its not all the carriers fault folks . if they pay these rate hikes to carry- the cost gets reflected on your bill.
Why doesn’t’ everyone simply cancel all of this unnecessary nonsense. All I see is cable & satellite subscriptions constantly increasing in cost. When will you say “ENOUGH ALREADY” & give it up. There are better things to do with your money. I canceled Direct TV 4 years ago & haven’t looked back. I don’t miss it & I’m saving a considerable amount of money in the process. I would love to see everyone simply say ADIOS to they’re providers. Then, perhaps, you’ll see rates go down & quality improve. “Over the air” is FREE & the HD content is FREE… as is should be. Wise up!
The future will hopefully be that we don’t need AT&T or Comcast to dictate what channels we watch. We just pay them for internet access and we go to a media channel’s website to view their stream, or back episodes. They get paid thru ad dollars just like stations did in the over-the-air days.
Heck, I could even see a model where viewers go to a TV portal and pick their channel, and your internet provider slots in the commercials. Like how Hulu or justin.tv do it. Then the channels get paid for the number of viewers who see their channel and how long they watch. That way, channels don’t have to worry about not being big enough to lure advertisers in to support them.
The idea that the provider drops a list of channels over contract fees sounds like the providers are stuck in the 90s! Hot channels are gonna rise and fall over the years. Let the users decide what we can watch, not the providers!
P.S. @George – I agree, I still enjoy over-the-air TV cuz we shouldn’t have to pay big $ for what we used to get for free. That’s why I foresee a model where we can get access to the latest hot new channel without waiting for the provider to cut a deal to carry it. You don’t have to worry about when your provider will cut a deal to let customers access a new website, you just go to it and if the site wants ad $ they either sell their own or sign up with a media company to provide the banner ads. Simple and the customer isn’t caught in the middle!
As always the consumer gets the short end of the stick and it’s never the clean end either. Comcast was charging outrageous prices for their services then U-verse came along and I changed to them. Now U-verse can’t play nice with the other kids on the playground so we lose. How much money does it take to be a profitable company and not a greedy one? This goes for both U-verse and Scripps, grow up you two and give us back our programs!
this sucks all around
u-verse tell scripps to shove it
Over-The-Air is the way to go. The only reason people pay for TV is because the cable/sat Kartel told them to.
The digital transition changed “Antenna TV” drastically. You can now easily get other-market stations that are 60-70 miles away (with the right location and equipment). For example, this Sunday I will have 4 NFL games at noon.
And the picture is absolutely perfect- light-years ahead of cable, sat, and especially FIOS, who all water down the HD, just like a cheap bartender waters down the drinks.
Go to http://www.tvfool.com and enter your address. The website will show you what stations are available and how much antenna you will need to get them.
I got UVERSE when it first came out but have seen too mucch of this using customers as a leverage. I’m going satilite now and canceling my ATT U-VERSE. Too damned money hongrey with our money!!!
I got UVERSE when it first came out but have seen too mucch of this using customers as a leverage. I’m going satilite now and canceling my ATT U-VERSE. Too damned money hungrey with our money!!!
I am a U-verse customer, and this has me seriously looking elsewhere. I only watch these channels infrequently, but AT&T has raised my rates, reduced my channels, and not delivered on the performance that they promised. This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
No cooking channels and HGTV, DIY, and are now gone. My grandmother watched the cooking channel. What a big waste of money and I think I am going to cancell AT&T Uverse because of this crap. If this is not back on then this package is done!
I just recently switched to ATT-Uverse but I am seriously considering going back to my old carrier. I don’t appreciate all the talk about how good it is when they do this to their customers. I am not happy with their service.
I’m not really interested in who is at fault. I only know that I am paying for programming that I am no longer able to receive. Since AT&T bills me, they should be the one correctly this mess. In the end, everyone knows this will not result in a lower bill.
“Let me start by saying this impasse is not about money,” said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks.
LIAR!!!!! It’s ALWAYS about money!
Let’s all fervently hope for the day when “cable” providers no longer have a stranglehold on content delivery. Their anti-competitive practices have driven up prices and restricted content for decades.
Why the heck can’t I order just the channels I like, a la carte? Why is it again that I have to pay 80 bucks for 800 channels, 780 of which I will never watch?
My household has ditched the box and gone OTA/Streaming. We miss Food Channel, Bravo, and White Sox games on CSN. But you know what, the $80 per month we save takes away a lot of the sting, and we still have loads of content to watch. Between (free) Hulu, Netflix, various TV channels’ own websites (such as Lifetime and Project Runway), and high quality free broadcast HD (including about a quarter of the baseball schedule), we are getting all sorts of television for $10 per month (netflix) and the cost of an internet connection.
Cable providers had better get wise. As old folks move on and young people say “screw you,” their customer rolls will wither and die.
COMCAST IS TRULY THE WAY TO GO.. I HAVE A LOW MONTHLY BILL AND I GET ALL THE CHANNEL I NEED AND HIGH SPEED INTERNET FOR LIKE A 100.00 A MONTH I TRIED UVERSE BUT THE SERVICE SUCK AND YOU CANT EVENT USE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME
If this dispute is not resolved and these programs added back immediately, the exodus of subscribers from U-Verse will be of Biblical proportions. Trust me, this is required programming for approximately 90 percent of American homes and plenty of other providers are already equipped to supply this need. As far as saving us money, I doubt that at&t has any plan of reducing our payments with these key programs no longer in the lineup.
@Meagan – you’re happy coughing up $100 a month?? Wouldn’t you rather pay like $30 for internet access and watch TV over the internet thru your TV? Sounds like a better use of your money to me.
Tired of paying outrageous prices for u-verse, back to cable for us! We’ll never see an adjustment from at&t for non-services until the fire below frezees.
My husband and I always enjoyed the food channels daily. We might have to consider going elsewhere for the channels we love. We’ll be looking into other providers if you guys can’t get this fixed !!!
Ready to kick u-verse to the curb. These are my favorite networks. What gives?
The biggest mistake I ever made was switching to U-Verse. It has been one thing after the other since day 1. Too bad they lock you into a 2 year contract. I am a senior citizen and can’t afford to buy out. Believe me if I could I would in a heartbeat.
Count me IN
The Faster I can Get This U Verse Gone The Better.
FOOD Network DIY is the reason I dropped my Last Service
Willing to do it Again in a Heartbeat.
ATT Stop counting My Money and Deliver the Service I was Promised
I left our previous carrier for really bad customer service. AT&T if you do not get these channels back, we will drop everything we have with AT&T. phone, TV,and internet.
This is ridiculous! Do consumers have the same right, for whatever our “personal reasons” to all of a sudden pay only part of our monthly bill. When I signed up I was guaranteed a certain number of channels and guess what…..five months later, I do not have what I signed up for. what kind of customer service is that. regardless of the reasons on either side as to why this is happening, rates need to be adjusted. I vote for pay for what you watch! If adding them back increases rates, then be sure to subject the fees for the channels that we are not watching!
No HGTV ? No cooking channels?
Then they’re alienating affluent [or aspiring] females and gay men… …the two consumer demographics that spend money like lotto winners during recessions.
STUPID STUPID STUPID
How do I hook up to internet tv ? Im tired of all this crap I have to deal with and my bill stays on the hi end. Its not worth the HUGE bill I get each month! Another chinned hooked customer being draged along.
I WILL CANCEL ATT IF THEY DON’T GET THE CHANELS BACK I WILL DROP ALL OF ATT SERVICE.THEY NEED TO TAKE ALL THE GARABGE OFF NOT THE PROGRAMS PEOPLE WATCH.THEY NEED TO LIVE UP TO THERE CONTRACT.
R U SERIOUS !!!!! WHAT A JOKE !!!!! WE PAY FOR THIS CRAP U VERSE (WHICH FREEZES MORE THAN NOT) AND NOW THE PAYING PUBLIC HAS TO SUFFER BECAUSE OF THE GREEDY CORPORATE AMERICA !!!! I WANT A REFUND ON THESE CHANNELS I CAN NOT WATCH ANYMORE! DEDUCT THEM FROM MY BILL. YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU REPLACED THESE CHANNELS WITH CRAP WE DO NOT WANT ITS OK..GUESS WHAT NOT!!!! HEY DISH IS SOUNDING BETTER AND BETTER WE CAN GO BACK TO THEM ,,,AT&T IS MORE TROUBLE THAN ITS WORTH RIGHT NOW……
i don’t remember getting a warning about this. did anyone else? maybe I need to pay closer attention.
Anyway i tried to chat and call uverse but the wait was huge. it’s really stank and i’m annoyed. sorry for venting. i would cancel this mess in ten seconds but my husband lives in the old times and won’t watch tv online
We signed up for U-Verse to enjoy such networks as Hallmark, DIY, The Cooking Channel, etc. Now they have all departed, and the latest with no warning whatsoever. If agreements cannot be made to restore these desired programs then rebates should be given. They are not delivering what we signed up for. Also, what about all the garbage they do have available that no one really wants. If agreements cannot be made for reinstatement, we will cancel and look elsewhere.
I will go back to dish or directv if you dont get hgtv back soon I pay my bill on time and I dont understand why you people can’t take care of your bussiness befor something like this happens you didnt just hear about it yesterday you knew it was going to happen.
I signed up for u-verse three months ago because they offered me a better deal than Cox Cable here in the San Diego area. However, with Cox (which I had for many years) they never pulled popular programming as A T and T has just done. I think it is deplorable that they have dropped the Food Network and HGTV. Most of cable today is horrible anyway. These were some of the few channels that had some “class”.
I will definitely drop u-verse if they do not IMMEDIATELY reinstate these shows.
Fed up with being held hostage by corporations.
Mad, mad, mad!!!!!!!
John Lansing is so full of it!!! He states in the article “this is not about money.” Yeah right. That is the only thing this is about. Stop insulting my intelligence John.