Locals in fix for FOX as satellite dispute rages

A dispute between the local FOX television affiliate and the DIRECTV satellite provider may push hundreds of Whitman County residents out of their homes Sunday in search of a televised version of the Seahawks playoff game.

The Seattle Seahawks will take on the vaunted Chicago Bears in the NFL playoffs. The game will be broadcast on FOX, as will the Superbowl and the World Series.

KAYU, the Spokane FOX affiliate, went dark for DIRECTV customers at midnight Jan. 1, after parent company Northwest Broadcasting and DIRECTV failed to agree on a new contract after the Dec. 31 expiration of a prior 10-year deal.

The two companies will not have a contract in place by kickoff Sunday, meaning local fans will not be able to watch the Seahawks from their homes.

“Unfortunately DIRECTV left us no choice but to pull our stations,” said Northwest’s President and CEO Brian Brady.

The two sides are currently at the bargaining table to resolve the dispute, but have been bargaining since September 2009.

Jon Rand, chief operating officer for Northwest, said the dispute centers around the amount DIRECTV is offering to pay to carry Northwest’s channels. Northwest Broadcasting owns FOX affiliates in Spokane, Yakima, Medford, Binghampton, New York and Laredo, Texas.

“Everyone else, the other kind of satellite and other operators are meeting broadcasters’ expectations,” he said. “We want them to do the same thing.”

DIRECTV, in a press release, said Northwest was asking for an “astronomical” 600 percent price increase, that would raise rates for DIRECTV subscribers.

Rural residents of Whitman County have no access to cable television, and many in the southern and central reaches of the county do not receive the station’s over-the-air signal.

Those satellite-dependent television watchers have already missed the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, several episodes of The Simpsons and Glee.