Love and Hate

My feelings for Directv couldn't be at greater extremes as they are on weekends in the fall. I love Directv on Sundays with their Sunday Ticket. I get to see every Minnesota Vikings game. I hate Directv on Saturdays because they are too stubborn and stupid to come to an agreement with the Pac-12 and offer the Pac-12 Network to their customers. I can't see every California Golden Bears game. I love the satellite biggie on Sunday. I hate them on Saturday.

Directv claims to be a leader in sports programming. It's impossible to make that claim if the network for one of the top college conferences is not available. It's laughable that Directv can't make it happen. Actually, they refuse to make it happen. Both sides are being stubborn. It's been a three-year negotiation with likely little negotiation over the last two years. Directv has offered to make the Pac-12 Network available as an "a la carte" channel to individual subscribers that are willing to pay extra for it. I'm all for this option as I just want the games. The Pac-12 balks at this because they want their network to be part of the regular sports programming package. Big Ten and SEC networks are available in that package. It's a mystery as to why Directv views the Pac-12 differently. Stupidity comes to mind. The Pac-12 has reached agreements with 66 other distributors. Their expectations from Directv are no different from the expectations found agreeable with so many other cable and satellite providers. Directv claims that they don't want to force a sports network on customers that have no interest in it. Directv spokesman Thomas Tyrer said that they would like to make a deal for its customers who want Pac-12 programming "as long as we're not forcing everyone else to pay for it too. Pac-12 schools have a tradition of terrific competition and fair play, so we can't understand why the conference won't allow anyone to simply choose." Well Thomas, the fact that this option wasn't forced on the Big Ten and SEC might be a reason. The fact that no other cable or satellite provider has asked this of the Pac-12 might be another reason. Beyond those reasons, that is a fairly selective view for Thomas and his employer to take. I have zero interest in well over half of the channels available to me. I pay for hundreds of channels so that others can view them. Directv, in this case, is showing an obvious preference for their customers that care little for sports. Seems a little misguided when you consider that the one thing that separates Directv from their competitors is their sports programming. I wouldn't be a Directv subscriber if it weren't for Sunday Ticket. I definitely wouldn't have Directv because of their pathetic little pissing-match with the Pac-12. It's pathetic because it feels like it's gotten personal. Never a good thing in business. So I hear.

There is some potential for good news in the coming months. AT&T has supposedly reached an agreement to purchase Directv. The deal, announced in May, has to be approved by federal regulators. If the deal does come to fruition, there could be a jump-start in the negotiations. The Pac-12 and AT&T have long had, what appears to be, a positive relationship. Most feel that the deal will lead to constructive negotiations. Nothing that has occurred over the last three years would ever be confused with constructive. Until then, I will continue to hate Directv on fall Saturdays and love them on fall Sundays,