DirectTV acknowledges agreement with MLB |
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Sat, 03 Mar 2007 03:42
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NEW YORK (AP) - DirectTV acknowledged its agreement with Major League Baseball to become the sole television distributor of the sport's out-of-market package, telling the Federal Communications Commission that the deal will benefit consumers.'Consumers will receive a better product, with more content and more features,' DirectTV president Chase Carey said in a seven-page letter Friday to the FCC, a copy of which was released by Edelman, the company's public-relations firm.The package also has been available on cable television in recent seasons, but will be available solely on DirecTV and MLB.com under the new agreement. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., released a letter last month disclosing that the FCC was investigating the deal.Carey said in his letter that an estimated 5,000 subscribers to the Extra Innings package would not have access to DirecTV, and he said there were 230,000 subscribers to the package last year outside of DirecTV. He also said DirecTV would make The Baseball Channel available when the network launches in 2009.'Congress did not prohibit all exclusive arrangements,' Carey wrote. 'It only restricted exclusive arrangements that were the product of market power abuses -- those between dominant cable operators and cable-owned programmers.'Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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