AT&T's (NYSE: T) Connecticut U-verse customers got a late Christmas present: access to MSG HD and MSG+ HD content. AT&T's deal comes only two weeks after Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) failed to block the sports network's HD feeds from getting into the hands of telco-based IPTV providers, Multichannel News reports.
In mid-December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a petition by Cablevision and MSG Holdings to review the FCC's September order to make the HD feeds of regional sports networks available to Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T.
Eligible U-verse customers will be able to access MSG HD on channel 1708, while MSG+ HD will be available on channel 1706.
To get the new services, U-verse subscribers must already have the U100 programming package or higher as well as HD service. This will cost these users an additional $10 per month.
Verizon also added MSG HD and MSG+ HD to its FiOS TV service in its New York serving territory a day after the petition was denied.
Providing access to the content of seven professional sports teams--the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, New York Red Bulls, New Jersey Devils and the WNBA's New York Liberty--will be a key differentiator telcos like AT&T and Verizon can use to lure more users.
For more:
- Multichannel News has this article
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