AT&T Reaches Agreement with Rainbow Media

AT&T U-verse announced last Thursday that it reached a new carriage deal with Rainbow Media.

Rainbow, part of Cablevision Systems, owns AMC, IFC and WE tv. The agreement with U-verse expired July 1, but was extended another 14 days for negotiations.

“We are happy to report that AMC, IFC and WE tv will remain on AT&T U-verse,” AT&T said in a statement. “We’re very satisfied that we were able to reach the fair deal we wanted for our customers – one that includes the right content, across platforms, at prices that are in line with the marketplace, and that helps us with important strategic content initiatives. We are very grateful to our customers for their support.”

Rainbow also released a statement: “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with AT&T for AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel that truly recognizes the value of our networks. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AT&T and are excited to continue to bring their subscribers our award-winning programming, including the new season of AMC’s Mad Men on Sunday, July 25.”

AT&T at Odds with Rainbow Media

AT&T has begun providing set-top-box delivered messages to its U-verse subscribers that may lose access to AMC, WE Tv and IFC as soon as July 14. According to reports, Rainbow Media and AT&T have not reached agreement on renewal of the Rainbow-owned channels. Rainbow Media Holdings is owned by Cablevision.

At risk is the season premiere of Mad Men on July 25.  AT&T reportedly began sending messages to subscribers on July 9 letting them know that while the agreement had been extended until July 14, a resolution on a new agreement was imminent.  AT&T has indicated that they wish to come to a fair agreement, but that they have reached an “impasse,” in their negotiations.

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