DirecTV, Tennis Channel Arrange Investment-For-Carriage Deal

The Tennis Channel's recent carriage deal with DirecTV included the satellite company receiving a minority stake in the network, according to David Goetzl of MEDIAPOST.  Late last month, the network launched on DirecTV tier that reaches "a little over half of its 16.3 million homes." DirecTV President & CEO Chase Carey said the carriage-for-equity arrangement "gave us an opportunity to capture value for the distribution we bring."  Carey also indicated that DirecTV "would continue to look 'opportunistically' to leverage its ability [to offer carriage] to gain equity stakes or other financial advantages" (MEDIAPOST.com, 9/24).