Updated Jan 6
The National Cable Television Cooperative and AMC Networks said today that they have reached a new agreement that will put AMCN channels in at least some small video providers’ lineups. NCTC handles content negotiations on behalf of its small video provider members, who individually choose whether or not to finalize an agreement. A previous agreement between NCTC and AMCN expired at the end of 2015.
NCTC/ AMC Agreement
Terms of the new agreement were not disclosed, but in today’s announcement, NCTC Executive Vice President of Programming Judy Meyka said she appreciated AMCN’s willingness “to take the time to understand our members’ unique challenges and concerns and their creativity to construct an agreement that addresses the concerns of many of our members.”
Negotiations with AMCN became contentious late last month when several video providers protested AMCN’s demand for the providers to carry less popular channels such as WE tv and IFC in order to obtain AMCN’s flagship AMC channel, whose content includes the highly popular television show “The Walking Dead.” AMCN’s demand for large price increases also played a role in the dispute, which drove some video providers to warn customers that they might drop AMCN content from their lineups.
At least one video provider that had threatened to drop AMCN said today that it now plans to carry AMCN content. “There was no disruption of service and TDS will continue to carry the channels,” said a TDS spokesperson in an email to Telecompetitor.
GCI Drops AMC
Not every small video provider is making the same decision, however.
Alaskan broadband and video provider General Communication Inc. (GCI) on December 28 said it would no longer include programming from AMC Networks (AMCN) or Univision Communications in its channel lineup. GCI said it was due to renew its contract with AMCN but opted not to do so because AMC was asking for an “almost 200% cost increase for all the network’s channels as a condition for carrying AMC.” The decision about Univision also was triggered by high programming costs, GCI said.
Some other video providers also may be emboldened to drop AMCN now that the rise of over-the-top video provides alternate means of viewing popular content such as “The Walking Dead.” GCI Vice President of Content and Product Management Bob Ormberg noted in a press release announcing the company’s plans to drop AMCN that “customers have more viewing choices than ever before and GCI has made sure that fans can watch ‘The Walking Dead’ by other methods so they won’t miss an episode when season 6 resumes in February.”
In an effort to make its decision about AMCN more palatable for customers, GCI is offering TiVo customers a $50 gift card to “encourage customers to explore the thousands of hours of new content available through apps such as VUDU and Netflix.”
That could be $50 well spent if it helps keep customers from dropping GCI’s video offering or drives increased demand for bandwidth upgrades to accommodate heavier OTT streaming. Any other video providers considering dropping AMCN may want to consider a similar move.
Update: Telecompetitor received this update from Wave Broadband, which also had warned customers that the company might drop AMCN channels:
