Sunday Ticket Drops C-Band, DirecTV Picks Up Biz

[Gregg Lengling]

Given that big dish customers will no longer have access to NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV said Wednesday it will launch a program to provide for the free, seamless conversion of C-Band residential and commercial customers who had the sports package to its small dish service.

The conversion program follows the NFL's decision to exit the C-Band satellite market. DirecTV has rights to carry the NFL Sunday Ticket package through 2007 after reaching an agreement with the NFL late last year.

Conversions are expected to begin in mid-May, and C-Band customers who wish to avoid service interruption will have an opportunity to install and activate DirecTV service well in advance of the start of the 2003 NFL regular season in September, the company said. DirecTV said it will provide a two-room DirecTV System, along with standard professional installation, free of charge during the transition period.

Peter Brickman, NFL senior director of operations, said the decision to exit the C-Band business is tied to the big dish's viewership decline. "We provided our package to C-Band dish owners long after other programmers departed the business. However, as the satellite industry evolved, our subscription base mirrored the significant decline in the number of C-Band dish owners," he said.

"We have now reluctantly determined there are no longer enough current or potential subscribers to justify the substantial costs for the analog C-Band satellite facilities necessary to support a viable business," Brickman said.