In L.A., Joe Flint reported with their current agreement set to expire tomorrow, DirecTV and News Corp. are "still far apart on a deal to keep more than 25 networks on the satellite broadcaster's programming service." DirecTV said that News Corp.'s Fox Cable unit "was demanding a 40% fee increase to keep carrying the channels." DirecTV Chief Exec Mike White in a video sent to subscribers said that the company "already pays News Corp. 'nearly a billion dollars a year' for their channels and that this increase was 'entirely too much.'" Fox Networks Group Senior VP/Communications Scott Grogin called the 40% claim "ridiculous" (L.A. TIMES, 10/29).
MAKING A SERVE: In London, Alexandra Willis reported ITV has signed a "three-year deal to televise the French Open" in the U.K. Six hours of live coverage "will be shown on ITV4 and ITV.com every day during the 15-day tournament, culminating in the men's and women's singles finals on ITV1, the first tennis to be shown on the broadcaster's flagship channel." The news comes just days after the BBC locked up Wimbledon rights through '17 (London TELEGRAPH, 10/29).
EXCLUSIVE DEAL: LOCOG, BT and O2 have agreed to a deal that means "some 40,000 executives and guests" in their corporate entertainment areas "will only be able to use mobiles with an O2 contract -- forcing them to adopt a new mobile number, or face a communications blackout." Attendees can use rival phones "in the shared public areas of the Olympic Park, but they will have to swap their Sim cards for an O2 one if they want to make calls within the corporate zones" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/30).
WELCOME ABOARD: NESN is set to introduce Jamison Coyle as the net's new anchor/reporter of "NESN Daily." Coyle, who will debut early next month, had been the sports director at Wichita's KSNW-NBC since March '10. Coyle will replace Jade McCarthy on NESN (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/28).
