Comcast agrees to carry Bally RSNs

After three long months, we finally have white smoke in the carriage dispute between Comcast and the Diamond Sports Group, owner and operator of the Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs).

On Monday , Puck’s John Ourand tweeted that the two parties agreed to a new carriage deal, bringing the Bally Sports RSNs back to Comcast’s Xfinity cable systems across the country.

A release says the Bally Sports RSNs will be available on Comcast’s Ultimate TV tier as of August 1. Subscribers can also stream content using an authenticated login on the Bally Sports app.

David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond Sports stated, “Entering a new carriage agreement with Comcast, our third largest distributor, is a critical step forward in our restructuring effort, and we are pleased that fans will again be able to access broadcasts of their local teams through Xfinity. With certainty on our distribution, we are focused on finalizing an agreement with the NHL and resolving our ongoing negotiations with the NBA. We are mindful that time is of the essence with basketball and hockey seasons fast approaching, and once agreements with our team and league partners are complete, we intend to move expeditiously to present a plan of reorganization to the Court.”

“We appreciate Diamond Sports working with us to reach a solution that returns the Bally Sports RSNs to our Ultimate TV customers in a way that reflects the changing video marketplace for local sports,” said Greg Rigdon, President of Content Acquisition for Comcast. “We look forward to making these networks available on August 1, so customers can enjoy watching their favorite teams again.”

Getting the Comcast deal done is massive for the future of Diamond. A bankruptcy court hearing scheduled for this week was delayed due to Diamond and Comcast approaching an agreement . Without a new carriage pact, it didn’t seem likely that Diamond would be able to emerge from bankruptcy successfully. Monday’s news is certainly a positive note for Diamond’s future.

The Bally Sports RSNs went dark at the end of April on Comcast’s cable systems across the country after the two sides couldn’t agree to a new deal. At the time, there was optimism a deal would get done after Diamond inked new pacts with both Charter and DirecTV earlier in April.

After plenty of public saber-rattling between Comcast and Diamond, the behemoth media conglomerate was able to continue its strategy to shift RSNs to the Ultimate TV tier. That’s similar to what it has done with other RSNs ( but not its own ) in previous negotiations.

[ Diamond ]

The post Comcast, Diamond Sports Group agree to carriage deal appeared first on Awful Announcing .