Faced with a fateful upcoming court date at the end of July, bankrupt Diamond Sports Group has a fresh new distribution worry.
Eleven of its 18 remaining Bally Sports regional sports networks have been blacked out on Altice USA’s Optimum cable TV systems, which reached 2.09 million remaining pay TV customers as of the end of March.
“We have worked diligently and championed on your behalf to reach a fair agreement, offering flexible and consumer-friendly options to Diamond Sports Group, the operator of Bally Sports Networks; however, Bally’s declined. As a result, their content is no longer available on our lineups,” Altice USA says on a website intended to inform customers of the carriage dispute.
Notably, on this page, Altice directs bereaved baseball fans to the Bally Sports Plus direct-to-consumer streaming service and the Fubo virtual MVPD. The company also has a phone line to help customers talk through solutions.
Diamond released its own statement: “It’s disappointing that Altice has chosen to stop airing our channels, and we regret that fans are impacted. We have been engaged in negotiations with Altice with the goal of reaching a fair agreement for Optimum’s continued distribution of the Bally Sports regional sports networks. Unfortunately, Altice has rejected multiple proposals with terms similar to what other distributors have already agreed to while demanding carriage on a premium sports tier that would require fans to pay more to retain access, demonstrating they are unwilling to let their subscribers enjoy broadcasts of their favorite teams.”
Diamond, which is seems out of room for delay and must present a viable plan to move forward on July 29 to a Houston bankruptcy, touts that it has locked up distribution with 10 of the 12 largest U.S. pay TV operators, and is reaching 84% of U.S. pay TV subscribers.
Of more pressing concern is its impasse with Comcast — since April 29, all 18 Bally Sports channels have been blacked out on Xfinity-branded cable TV systems reaching around 14 million subscribers.
Some of the channels impacted in the Altice USA dispute span numerous cable franchise regions and are blacked out by Comcast as well, such as Bally Sports South, the RSN home of the Atlanta Braves.
Here are the 11 impacted channels:
- Bally Sports Arizona
- Bally Sports Extra
- Bally Sports Great Lakes
- Bally Sports Kansas City
- Bally Sports Midwest
- Bally Sports New Orleans
- Bally Sports Ohio
- Bally Sports Oklahoma
- Bally Sports South
- Bally Sports Southeast
- Bally Sports Southwest
- Bally Sports West
In its messaging to customers, Altice USA concedes, “Fortunately, there are various options available for you to continue watching your favorite Major League Baseball teams.” And that’s true. Bally Sports channels are carried by nationally distributed services like DirecTV satellite TV and DirecTV Stream, as well as virtual MVPD Fubo.
