Tennis Channel Responds To Comcast's Inquiry About DirecTV

Tennis Channel responded to Comcast's question about its ownership structure by saying that DirecTV took an equity stake in the channel as part of a '07 carriage deal that added 9 million homes. "It's no secret that DirecTV has a stake in Tennis Channel, but it's a non-majority, non-controlling interest," Tennis Channel Chair & CEO Ken Solomon said. In an FCC filing yesterday, Comcast called on Tennis Channel to disclose DirecTV's ownership interest. Elsewhere in the filing, Comcast cited Dish Network's move to put Tennis Channel on a less penetrated tier last fall. Solomon said Tennis did not get placed on a worse tier, instead saying the "move" was nothing more than the ending of a free preview of its channel. "That claim is patently false," Solomon said (John Ourand, THE DAILY).

AN ITCH TO BUY: In L.A., Meg James cited a source as saying that former News Corp. President & COO Peter Chernin's new Chernin Entertainment is "working on a deal to buy a cable channel." While there are not "a lot of cable channels on the block," Tennis Channel is among those that "would be for sale at the right price, according to people in the know." News Corp. "for months has been in discussions about a sale of Fuel channel to Viacom," but Chernin "seems a little late to that party" (LATIMES.com, 2/23).