Comcast and Denver-area regional sports network Altitude Sports and Entertainment have settled their four-year-old federal court beef without a carriage deal to show for it. 

“Comcast Corporation, Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, and Altitude Sports & Entertainment, LLC announce today that they have reached a settlement of their lawsuit pending in federal district court in Denver, Colorado,” read a joint statement released late last week.  

“The parties will file shortly a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of that suit. The terms of the settlement are confidential except that the parties acknowledge that the settlement does not involve the carriage of Altitude on Comcast’s cable systems. Comcast and Altitude remain willing to discuss potential future business and distribution arrangements.”

Also read: ‘Why Did Comcast Dump Us?’ Denver-Area RSN Altitude Launches Billboard Campaign as Xfinity Blackout Enters Year 4

The antitrust suit was filed in 2019 by Altitude, owned by billionaire Stan Kroenke and the RSN home of the NBA's Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Altitude claimed unfair business practices by Comcast after the cable operator wouldn't renew carriage of the channel in its base tier for what Altitude deeded a “moderate” licensing-fee increase demand. 

Comcast controls 92% of cable TV homes in the pro teams’ TV market. Local area sports fans can gain access to Altitude via DirecTV and FuboTV. Since many of these fans probably get their internet through Comcast, they not getting the benefit of an efficiently bundled pay TV bill. 

For its part, Comcast said it’s willing to make a deal that places Altitude as a premium add-on channel, just like, say, HBO.

“This much is clear — Kroenke Sports controls the teams, the arena and the Altitude network,” Comcast said in a statement. “The ball is in their court to do the right thing and make it available to their fans, regardless of their service provider. Comcast has been clear all along that we want to make the games available to the fans who want to watch them without making everyone else pay.” 

Altitude reps have responded that their “indie” RSN is being singled out by Comcast, which demands baseline-tier carriage for its NBC Sports RSNs. 

Sure, it’s another pain point amid the increasingly challenged RSN ecosystem, but Altitude certainly has relevant teams. 

Notably, the Nuggets are No. 1 in the NBA’s Western Conference, with center Nikola Jokić closing in on his third consecutive league MVP. The Avalanche, meanwhile, are third overall in the NHL’s Western Conference and getting ready to defend their 2022 Stanley Cup championship. ■

The NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche are just days away from starting their new seasons, and the Colorado-based regional sports network that carries the two pro teams wants to remind everyone in the region that it's the dominant cable provider's fault that they still can't watch the games on the area's biggest pay TV system, Comcast Xfinity TV. 

Appearing Tuesday outside Ball Arena, physical home to the two major sports franchises, Matt Hutchings, CEO of KSE Media Ventures, the Stan Kroenke-controlled parent company of Altitude, introduced a new billboard campaign that will simply ask, "Why did Comcast dump us?"

Also read: Fubo TV Deal with Altitude Sports Makes Denver One of the Nation's Most Interesting RSN Regions

“It’s going to remind our fans that we're doing everything we can for them to get Altitude back on Comcast and to remind Comcast of the offer that we made and that we're willing to step to the table and get the deal done,” Hutchings told a throng of local media covering the event. 

In September 2019, Altitude — which reaches the multi-state ”Rocky Mountain Region“ — was removed from Comcast's program guide amid a fee dispute. Altitude does have carriage on Charter Spectrum, but Comcast controls 92% of cable homes in the RSN's carriage zone.

Since the blackout started, there's been a lot of back and forth, as well as litigation started by KSE. State lawmakers even tried to intervene, but the bill they sponsored never went anywhere. Recently wrapped mediation didn't close the chasm, either.

And in July, KSE said it sent a proposal to Comcast, asking the cable operator to pay it what it offers the region’s other major RSN, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, home of Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies. 

More than 70 days later, KSE said Comcast still hasn't responded. 

“Since the July 2022 mediation related to the lawsuit, there‘s been no new proposal from Altitude, and they are continuing to proceed with their lawsuit,” Comcast said in a statement provided to the Denver Post. “Altitude’s position requires nearly every Comcast customer in the Denver area to pay a fee increase for Comcast to broadcast the Altitude channel on TV, regardless of whether they watch the channel.  We have been and remain willing to distribute Altitude’s content in a way that avoids raising rates for virtually all our customers.”

In the meantime, in addition to trying to put marketing pressure on Comcast, Altitude has found alternative distribution paths. 

Last week, the RSN announced a carriage deal with virtual MVPD fuboTV. And earlier, it secured distribution on Evoca, a unique vMVPD that distributes a skinny bundle of broadcast channels and RSNs for $25 a month. ■

Jettisoned by Comcast and Dish Network in 2019, regional sports network Altitude Sports has faced a tough climb in the Mile High City, where Comcast is the dominant cable provider. 

On Thursday, Altitude Sports -- the exclusive RSN home of the NBA's Denver Nuggets and NHL's Colorado Avalanche -- signed a carriage agreement with virtual pay TV service fubo TV, which will run the channel in 10 Rocky Mountain-centric and adjacent states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota.

The inclusion of a virtual MVPD to its carriage portfolio adds to distribution Altitude already has on Charter Communications linear cable outside the Denver region, as well as on DirecTV linear satellite and the IP-delivered DirecTV Stream. 

Notably, Altitude is also available via ATSC 3.0-based pay TV service Evoca, which also delivers AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, home of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies, in an ultra-skinny bundle of mainly broadcast channels and RSNs delivered for only $25 a month. 

RSN Finds a Way

Certainly, the ability to tie themselves to lucrative RSN contracts can make the difference between boon or bust for pro sports teams and collegiate athletic conferences. 

In Next TV's home market, the Los Angeles Dodgers have thrived on a 25-year, $8.35 billion contract signed with the erstwhile Time Warner Cable in 2013 for carriage on SportsNet LA, now owned by Charter Communications. The Dodgers, which just finished with an all-time National League best 110 wins, have made the postseason 10 consecutive seasons, with the team able to withstand sizable luxury tax penalties each year. 

Conversely, the lightly regarded Pac-12 network -- available only via fubo TV and Sling TV in the all-important Southern California market -- has been signaled out as catalyst for a decision made by lynchpin Pac-12 schools USC and UCLA to leave the conference in 2024 and head to the Big Ten, a league far more flush with RSN coin. 

In August, the Big Ten Network signed a new carriage deal that will net its 16 constituents more than $1 billion dollars a year. 

Conversely, the Pac-12 Network earned only $43 million in the COVID-impacted 2020 collegiate athletic season after generating $118 million in 2019. The RSN hopes to up its revenue with its own pending new TV deal, but that will likely look nothing like the largesse negotiated by the Big Ten or SEC. 

With national TV deals with Fox Sports and ESPN factored in, all told, the Pac-12's media efforts generated only $30 million for the conference's 12 programs in 2022.

It's no wonder that UCLA, which recently reported debt of $102.8 million for its athletic department, agreed to join USC in making a radical shift in conference affiliation. 

Big Clients Call for Creative Distribution

Owned by Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Altitude Sports recently lost distribution of Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, after MLS signed a 10-year deal with Apple TV. 

Indeed, the tech giants pose a grave competitive risk for regional sports channels, as the pay TV ecosystem dwindles. Their distribution partners may not be willing to pay more, but their league and team constituents are beginning to have more TV revenue options. 

Next TV couldn't find program licensing information for the Nuggets, a perennial NBA playoff contender featuring back-to-back MVP winner Nikola Jokić, and the Avalanche, which are coming off the franchise's third Stanley Cup win in June. 

Suffice it to say that with both franchises at the top of their respective games, Altitude Sports needs to keep its head and revenue up. 

FuboTV said it reached a carriage deal with Altitude Sports which will enable it to stream games of the Denver Nuggets and the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Altitude Sports has been blacked out on Comcast Cable since 2019.

The regional sports network will be available on FuboTV in 10 Rocky Mountain states just before the starts of the NBA and NHL seasons. 

Altitude will have 74 regular-season games from the NBA’s Nuggets and 69 regular-season Avalanche NHL games. It also will have Colorado Mammoth lacrosse games.

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

“We’re thrilled to expand FuboTV’s leading sports coverage with the addition of Altitude Sports and bring fans of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Mammoth an affordable streaming option in the seasons ahead,” said Todd Mathers, senior VP, content strategy and acquisition, FuboTV. “FuboTV is a leading choice for hometown sports, alongside our national and international sports coverage. Today’s distribution partnership means fans across the Rockies will be able to stream all available home games for some of the most loved teams in the region.”

FuboTV now carries a dozen regional sports networks in its base package. It streams more than 50,000 live sporting events annually. 

“We couldn’t be more excited that Altitude Sports will be added to FuboTV’s Pro Package,” said Matt Hutchings, president and CEO of KSE Media Ventures. “FuboTV becomes the newest streaming option for our fans as we continue to expand Altitude’s distribution throughout the Rocky Mountain Region. Best of all, FuboTV values those fans and provides them a great option for following their hometown teams.” ■

A federal judge in Colorado late last month said that an antitrust suit brought by regional sports network Altitude Sports against Comcast can move forward, a development that could have broader implications for future negotiations between sports channels and distributors. Or maybe not.

The rift between Altitude Sports and Comcast started more than a year ago. Back in November 2019, the RSN, owned by Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, claimed that Comcast refused to extend its carriage deal and instead proposed putting the channel on a separate sports tier, a move that would drastically reduce its revenue. Altitude Sports claimed that Comcast was taking that stance in a move to take over the RSN’s  programming for its own sports channel -- NBC Sports Network -- and further exert its monopoly influence in the Denver market.

Comcast moved to have the case dismissed and in making his Nov. 25 decision to let the case go forward, U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez dismissed many of Altitude’s claims. For instance, he didn’t buy the idea that Comcast was trying to monopolize the Denver market because by dropping Altitude, it faces losing subscribers and diminishes its market power. But he cautiously accepted at least one of the programmer’s claims -- that Comcast’s hard line stance in the negotiations could be proof that it is refusing to deal with the channel. That is a fine line -- Comcast claims it wants to move the channel to keep costs down for its other customers -- but one the judge says he must consider fully, citing prior cases that have shown instances where “[a] refusal to deal may cross the line from permissible to predatory,” according to the suit. “... Although Comcast characterizes Altitude’s allegations that it will enter the market with its own RSN as baseless and speculative, viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to Altitude, and drawing all reasonable inferences in Altitude’s favor, as the Court must at the dismissal stage, the Court finds Altitude has alleged facts sufficient to show that its allegations of anticompetitive conduct are plausible.”

In a statement, Comcast said it is “encouraged that the Court dismissed most of Altitude’s frivolous claims at this early stage in the proceeding, and expressed skepticism about the one claim it did not reject outright. We agree with the Court’s skeptical view of the remaining allegations and look forward to getting the rest of the case dismissed promptly.” 

Altitude Sports is available in 10 states -- Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. The RSN carries games and programming from the NHL Colorado Avalanche, the NBA Denver Nuggets, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth and college sports from the University of Denver.

Last year the RSN reached a deal with DirecTV in November after a two-month blackout. The network had previously gone dark to Dish Network in August 2019 and has yet to reach a deal. Dish has said it would return the channel to its subscribers if it was allowed to sell it directly to customers who want it, with all the proceeds going to the network. That is similar to putting the channel on a tier and Altitude has declined that offer.

Distributors have been trying for years to move sports channels to pricier tiers to offset their costs and to appease non-sports loving customers who complain about paying for channels they don’t watch, all to no avail. For the networks, being moved to a tier is basically a death sentence -- it drastically reduces the number of subscribers it is exposed to which severely lowers advertising rates. In the suit, Altitude said under its old deal with Comcast, it was available to about 70% to 85% of the distributor's customers in the Denver area. In a separate sports tier, that exposure would plummet to 15%-to-20% or less.

The Comcast dispute comes at a time when regional sport networks are coming under fire. Sinclair Broadcast Group, which paid about $10 billion for Disney’s former Fox Sports RSNs, has seen revenue plunge at those channels as the pandemic has shortened seasons for teams across the board. In Q3, Sinclair took a $4.2 billion charge related to its RSN assets when distribution revenue took a nosedive after the loss of two major virtual MVPDs (Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV) and increased traditional subscriber losses. 

So it’s pretty obvious that regional sports channels are looking for ways to make up the difference. And though it looks like Comcast could prevail, this is 2020, anything can happen. 

But I’m not sure much changes, no matter which side wins. 

If Comcast wins, they could technically put every sports network on a tier, but that doesn’t mean the networks have to accept that, so it’s likely the status quo would remain. And if Altitude does prevail in receiving broader carriage through the courts, they may get more than they bargained for, according to some analysts.  

“It’s the law of unintended consequences,” MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett said.  “If the Court decides that RSNs are within their rights to demand carriage on the basic tier, then it will only mean that more and more distributors will drop them entirely.”

One good thing that may come out of this is as the pandemic has bolloxed up the sports leagues, it has backed up the courts as well. Chances are it will take a while before a final decision comes. 

“These are the sorts of procedures that in regular times take multiple years and my understanding is that the courts are slowed up in general because of the pandemic, so this is a long process,” said sports analyst Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Media & Entertainment. “If there are any implications from any of this, it will be years out. I don’t think it is anything that impacts current activity.” 

So my guess is that everything remains relatively the same. Altitude is no pushover and Comcast has been known to play hardball with RSNs -- it didn’t carry the YES Network for the entire 2016 baseball season over a carriage dispute, but reached a deal in January 2017, with the network returning on March 31,just before Opening Day. But I think this time might be different.  

This is simple economics. Even in an era where more and more customers are dropping video for streaming services, sports draws viewers, and Comcast probably doesn’t want to lose any more video customers than it has to. And Altitude probably doesn’t want to give up the affiliate fees and ad revenue associated with cable carriage for the uncertainty of streaming-only just yet. So, it is likely that they reach a deal, probably around the start of the NBA regular season (Dec. 22) or the NHL regular season (Jan. 1) give or take a few days or weeks, with both sides getting a little of what they wanted and a little of what they didn’t. That way, everyone gets to say they won. 

Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the Denver- based regional sports programmer, has reached a carriage agreement with AT&T, returning its RSNs to AT&T’s DirecTV subscribers in 10 states.

The agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, ends a two-month impasse between the two companies. Altitude pulled its channels from AT&T’s pay TV properties on Aug. 31.

Altitude’s RSNs went dark to Dish Network customers on Aug. 29 and to Comcast subscribers on Aug. 31. As of Thursday night, those distributors had not yet reached a deal.

In a joint statement, the companies said: "Altitude and AT&T/DirecTV thank local sports fans for their patience while they worked toward this new agreement. 

Pricing and minimum subscriber guarantees were at the heart of the AT&T dispute. According to reports, Altitude had claimed that AT&T was demanding a 50% reduction in rates. AT&T had held that Altitude was demanding high rate increases even though many of its customers don’t watch the channel. AT&T had said earlier that 95% of its subscribers in the 10 states affected watched the equivalent of less than one game per week. But the two appear to have worked out a compromise.

Altitude, owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, is available in 10 states -- Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. The RSN carries games and programming from the NHL Colorado Avalanche, the NBA Denver Nuggets, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth and college sports from the University of Denver.  

 Altitude Sports & Entertainment veteran Ben Boylan has been elevated to president of the regional sports network. 

Boylan, who has been with the RSN home to the NBA Denver Nuggets and NHL Colorado Avalanche since its launch a decade ago,  will oversee television operations, including production, programming, creative services, marketing, and distribution efforts. Additionally, Boylan will also oversee all Nuggets and Avalanche radio operations.

At the RSN, he succeeds Kim Carver, who last month announced that she would be departing KSE Media Ventures, where she served as president and CEO of Altitude and president of World Fishing Network. 

Boylan has been with Altitude Sports since its bow in 2004. Over the past two years, he has served as  senior vice president of media sales, focusing on sponsorship sales for the Nuggets and  Avalanche, for the Denver-based RSN that counts some 3.1 million homes in 10 states. Boylan started with Altitude as the network's local sales manager in 2004 and was promoted to general sales manager in 2005.

Boylan began his career at KOA Radio in 1986 in promotions, followed by talk show producer, before moving on to advertising sales. Boylan transitioned to Prime Sports Net as an account executive in 1991, which later became Fox Sports Network. He was promoted to local sales manager and national sales manager during his 13 years with Fox.

 “We’re excited to have someone who has seen the progression of our business from the beginning elevate to the position of president, KSE Media Ventures president and CEO Matt Hutchings. “With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Ben is uniquely positioned to take us to the next level.”

Noted Boylan: “I am humbled by this opportunity.  It’s an honor to lead this incredible group and I look forward to building upon the solid foundation of our team programming as well as the Altitude brand.”

In the wake of Carver’s departure, Jim Liberatore was named president and CEO of World Fishing Network. Liberatore remains CEO of Outdoor Channel, the outdoor lifestyle network owned by KSE Media Ventures, a unit of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, the Denver-based sports conglomerate owned by billionaire Stan Kroenke. KSE owns half of the dedicated angling lifestyle service.

http://www.multichannel.com/news/people/liberatore-named-world-fishing-net-ceo/385836

Altitude Sports & Entertainment has reached a multiyear afflliate extension with Comcast Cable.

The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, covers the nation's leading distributor's systems in Colorado and Utah. Through a 10-year pact, Comcast has been a leading carrier of Atltitude, which airs games involving the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets, the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, since its launch in 2004. This agreement marks Comcast's second with the RSN.

“Comcast was instrumental in the launch of Altitude almost 10 years ago and I am very pleased to announce the continuation of our affiliation," said Kim Carver, president and CEO of Altitude Sports & Entertainment. " We are looking forward to continuing what has been a great working relationship.”

Altitude counts some 3.1 million subscribers in its 10-state TV territory.