DirecTV has “taken its fight with News Corp. to the federal government,” according to Joe Flint of the L.A. TIMES. The satellite broadcaster in a letter to the FCC “took issue with some of the advertisements News Corp.'s Fox has run to alert people to the dispute.” DirecTV specifically “accused the company of misleading consumers.” DirecTV Exec VP/Content Strategy & Development Derek Chang in the letter wrote, "Fox is clearly abusing the public trust by its deliberate attempt to confuse and alarm consumers." Chang said that “although the contract dispute concerns FX, 19 regional sports networks and a handful of smaller channels (but not Fox News), News Corp. is leading people to think that its Fox broadcast network would also be dropped” on Tuesday (LATIMES.com, 10/27). Chang in the letter also “charges that Fox hasn't made a ‘separate’ offer to keep the broadcast property on the air.” DAILY VARIETY’s Andrew Wallenstein noted News Corp. has “sought to combine both the broadcast and cable agreements into one dispute -- and may want to also include other cable channels covered under separate agreements, including Fox News Channel” (VARIETY.com, 10/27). CABLEFAX DAILY notes the letter “pointed to ads in the L.A. Times, Sun and TV spots that showed clips of Fox broadcast’s ‘Glee’ and NFL games” (CABLEFAX DAILY, 10/28). News Corp. has “taken out newspaper ads warning DirecTV subscribers that many of their favorite teams and sports programs are in jeopardy of disappearing from their dish” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 10/28).
