DirecTV

Looking to diversify beyond the traditional screen, DirecTV has launched a unit devoted to digital initiatives. A digital entertainment products group, focusing on distribution across multiple platforms, will be headed by Tony Goncalves, a company veteran.

The two companies said late Wednesday that after nearly four days of blackout  they had struck a deal that will allow DirecTV Inc. to carry all of Tribune Broadcasting’s stations and WGN America cable channel for the next five years.

DirecTV filed a complaint with the FCC on Monday accusing Tribune Co. of negotiating a new programming contract in “bad faith” and questioning who is making decisions at the company.

Some DirecTV customers woke up on Sunday without Fox or the CW networks on their television sets, the result of a failed negotiation with Tribune Broadcasting, which owns or operates 23 television stations across the United States.

DirecTV said in a statement on Saturday that it has accepted the financial terms that Tribune’s management offered it by telephone two days ago. A deal would allow DirecTV to carry Tribune’s 23 local broadcast stations so that customers would not lose their programming when the current agreement between the two companies expires. But Tribune came out with its own statement shortly after DirecTV’s on Saturday evening, saying that it has not reached a deal or come to terms with DirecTV on any aspect of the contract.

The current contract covering 16 TV markets and Tribune’s WGN America cable channel expires on March 31.

DirecTV grew healthy U.S. revenues — but with a smaller number of new subscribers — during the fourth quarter of 2011. U.S. revenue climbed 9% to $6.03 billion, with net consumer additions of 125,000. This was against a net gain of 289,000 for the fourth quarter of 2010. For the year, DirecTV ended with a 3% gain to 19.89 million U.S. subscribers.

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its exposure to media companies significantly in the fourth quarter, adding a new position in Liberty Media and substantially raising its stake in DirecTV, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The owner of WSVN Miami and WHDH and WLVI Boston signs a carriage deal with the satellite TV provider, avoiding a Super Bowl blackout.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (D-Mass.) and his House Democratic counterparts are pushing DirecTV and Sunbeam’s WHDH Boston to end a retransmission consent dispute that threatens to keep 200,000 Boston households from watching the Super Bowl.

Sunbeam said that despite not having a reached a retrans deal yet, it will let the satellite provider carry its Miami Fox affiliate’s coverage of the New York Giants-San Francisco 49ers game this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. as well as the pre-game show at 6 p.m., the post-game show, American Idol and a late edition of its local news that night.

The scorched-earth financial battle between Sunbeam Television’s Fox affiliate and DirecTV continued Wednesday, with WSVN blacked out for a fifth straight day on the satellite provider, and no cease-fire in sight.

The Sunbeam-owned Miami Fox affiliate and DirecTV negotiated directly Tuesday for the first time since the Fox affiliate cut its link to the satellite programming service at midnight Friday in a retransmission consent dispute.

Football and showbiz fans in Boston and Miami took a hit Sunday as a carriage dispute between DirecTV and Sunbeam Television left subscribers unable to view the Packers-Giants NFL playoff game and then the Golden Globes broadcast by Sunbeam’s WHDH Boston and Fox affil WSVN Miami.

Fox affiliate WSVN Miami and NBC affil WHDH Boston could disappear from DirecTV satellite television dishes this weekend if a dispute over retransmission fees isn’t resolved. DirecTV said Wednesday that the stations’ owner, Sunbeam Television Corp., is threatening to pull their signals off the company’s dishes if a new agreement isn’t reached by Friday.

Morris Network, which owns and operates six network affiliates, and DirecTV have renewed their retransmission consent agreement. The stations are: WMGT Macon, Ga.; WTVQ Lexington, Ky.; WCBI Columbus, Miss.; WXXV Gulfport, Miss.; WWAY Wilmington, N.C.; and WDEF Chattanooga, Tenn.

DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, will cut back on spending in 2012 to prepare for any slowdown in the economy, CEO Michael White said. “We’re tightening our belts in terms of spending,” White says. “We’ll cut back on overhead, hiring and programming.”

The statllite TV service added a net 327,000 U.S. subscribers in the July to September period, the best third-quarter result in at least five years. Including Latin American operations, net gains were 901,000, the best for any quarter. Average revenue per U.S. user was $92.21 per month, a modest increase of 3.6% from a year ago.

DirecTV is demonstrating the negotiating power that comes with having more than 19 million pay TV subscribers. After striking a broad carriage deal with Fox Networks Group, the satellite TV provider has also managed to keep distributing TV stations owned by Belo Corp. after the broadcaster threatened to pull its feeds from DirecTV.

Fox Networks and DirecTV announced Monday evening that they reached an agreement for DirecTV to continue carrying all Fox networks (including FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Speed, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes), Fox’s regional sports networks, Fox Broadcasting, the Fox local stations, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. The joint statement said: “We both know the past 10 days have been challenging, but we’re pleased that both sides could eventually come together to ensure our viewers continue to enjoy Fox programming.”

The two sides are at odds over a new distribution agreement that would keep News Corp.-owned cable channels including FX on DirecTV. If an agreement is not reached by Nov. 1, DirecTV has said it will stop carrying the channels. In a letter to the FCC, DirecTV took issue with some of the advertisements News Corp.’s Fox has run to alert people to the dispute. Specifically, DirecTV accused the company of misleading consumers.

A full-page ad in Sunday’s L.A. Times warns Trojans, Bruins and Kings fans their teams could soon be off the air. Similar ads in other markets with NFL teams warned fans that they could soon be without pro football.

DirecTV has told Fox Networks that it will drop the channels Nov. 1 if the two companies don’t come to an agreement in the ongoing carriage dispute.

While the FCC’s desire to get back TV spectrum from stations is grabbing a lot of attention, there’s another issue that shouldn’t fall under the industry’s radar. The attempt by cable and satellite operators to get the commission to change the retransmission consent rules to decrease the broadcasters’ leverage. This second revenue stream is vital and is growing more important each year. This is a dangerous proceeding. If broadcasters don’t pay enough attention, all their spread sheets showing steadily rising retrans revenue over the next decade could suddenly become moot.

Rival distributors Time Warner Cable and satellite broadcaster DirecTV teamed up to make their case to the FCC for an overhaul the agency’s retransmission consent rules. Representatives of the two companies met with FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Robert McDowell on Wednesday to discuss the tensions that have arisen over the last few years between broadcasters and multichannel video program distributor over fees broadcasters want in return for carriage of their programming.

DirecTV is nearing the launch of Nomad, a product that will allow customers to transfer programming captured on an HD DVR to mobile devices and view it outside the home.

Social TV startup Miso wants to know what you’re watching—and it may have found the perfect way to find out, through a just-announced partnership with DirecTV. Now, if you’re a DirecTV subscriber and you want want to tell your friends that you’re watching Doctor Who, you don’t have to search through a long list of shows and episodes. Instead, once you’ve synced up Miso with your DirecTV system, the app automatically displays what you’re watching, and you can check-in by just pressing a button.

DirecTV is looking to boost appeal for its Sunday Ticket product among devoted fantasy football players, offering live updates in partnership with the NFL. Access to its Sunday Ticket To-Go package will be expanded to a slew of devices, including the iPad.

A federal judge has denied Comcast’s request for a temporary restraining order against DirecTV ads promoting its popular NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable operator, has sued pay TV rival DirecTV, accusing it of misleading consumers by promising “free” broadcasts of National Football League games.

The nation’s second-biggest provider of pay-TV services said today that its net income rose to $701 million, or 91 cents per share. That’s up from $543 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier. Its revenue grew 13 percent to $6.6 billion from $5.85 billion.

Looking for greater access to valuable set-top box data for its local TV research products, Nielsen has made a multi-year deal with Kantar Media for its consumer viewing data from DirecTV set-top boxes. Nielsen will use Kantar Media’s DirecTView service in local TV audience measurement.

Titles from Warner Bros., Fox, Universal and will be available 60 days after their theatrical release for $29.99; Comcast and VUDU will begin a similar service.

DirecTV is in advanced talks to be Hollywood’s first partner for early video-on-demand, a plan that is putting it in the cross hairs of the nation’s top theater chains. Consumers would pay about $30 to rent a movie via the Internet or cable 60 days after it opened in theaters and at least a month before it would become available on DVD.