If you’re an MMA fan, DirecTV hates you. Well, only half-way hates you. DirecTV is one of the only satellite providers that blesses our living rooms with inappropriate screams of ‘Goodnight Irene!’ from Michael Schiavello. I’m not sure who ‘Irene’ is but the chick takes a lot of naps. Michael Schiavello also taught me what a ‘femoral artery’ was and exactly how to ‘compress it’. Listening to Schiavello is like being in 12th grade Anatomy class (and if you’re name is Irene, it’s like being in a 12th grade Anatomy class where your teacher continuously suggests you go to bed). HDNet has proudly claimed about 85% of my television viewing habits and I’m perfectly ok with it (the remainder is filled with Project Runway, Hell’s Kitchen. ANTM). Without HDNet, alot of us would have far less ‘sick days’ from staying up till 7am watching Dream or Sengoku. But let’s get to the other half of you…you know, the half DirecTV despises. Tonight WEC 46 comes on and if you have DirecTV you will never be able to see it.
On September 1st, the ‘Versus’ channel went dead for all DirecTV subscribers supposedly because of some prior beef held with Comcast. No more Versus equates to the end of WEC and if you’re like me…you’re still going to bet an irresponsible amount on every single fight. According to DirecTV, the fault lies entirely on Comcast. Here is an official press release from the company that was created as a giant, digital middle finger to Comcast:
Unfortunately, the Versus sports network is no longer available on DIRECTV. DIRECTV’s contract to carry Versus ended at the end of August. While it was obvious we could not immediately come to terms on a new deal, DIRECTV offered to keep Versus up temporarily under the old deal while we continued to negotiate, but Comcast declined. In fact, they sent us a letter saying that if we didn’t agree to the terms they had on the table at the time, that we had no choice but to take it down at the beginning of September. Since then, we’ve been negotiating to try and come to terms on a new contract.
DIRECTV has negotiated hundreds of programming contracts like this over the years and has always been able to negotiate a fair deal that was equitable for both sides.
However, thus far, Versus has not presented us with a deal that is acceptable with respect to all material terms and conditions. Our goal is to reach an overall deal that will allow us to provide the best programming at the fairest prices to all of our customers. We feel the best way to get a deal done is by negotiating face-to-face, not through the media and the public. We are speaking with senior Comcast execs now to try and get this done.
We understand that sports fans are not interested in all the back and forth between the two companies, they just want to see their games. DIRECTV has indeed made a formal offer to put some of the marquee games up while we continue to negotiate.
Despite not having Versus, we will find a pirated stream of WEC 46 somewhere on the net and watch the card to support our dude Ben Henderson. Ben Henderson goes by the nickname ‘Smooth’ but for accuracy purposes, we’re renaming him Baby-Hendo. Our interviewer, D**k ‘Starscream’ Grayson has been called ‘Smooth’ since he was nine. If someone’s first name was ‘Smooth’ and their last name begun with an ‘E’, I would throw a brick at them if they didn’t open up a Smoothie shop. If you’re fortunate to have Versus, it all goes down 9pm ET/ 6pm PT tonight so…have a fun time watching it in full HD (damn you).
