America Channel Lands Carriage On 26 Comcast Systems

By John Ourand, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

America Channel scored a huge victory by signing a digital carriage deal with Comcast that will see the controversial channel launch in 26 markets early next year. It is unclear if the deal puts the channel on a sports tier or digital basic. The net has been in a carriage dispute with Comcast for years, ultimately taking its argument to federal regulators and legislators. Eventually, it picked up the rights to some college sports and declared itself an RSN, which meant that it could take its carriage demand directly to an arbitrator, thanks to a condition the FCC placed on Comcast’s acquisition of Adelphia. The FCC has since suspended that condition. America Channel is planning seven regional services in New England, the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain, South and West. It has signed programming deals with 19 Division I conferences.