Utah Jazz: DirecTV defends action, describing KJZZ-TV's demands 'outrageous'

LOS ANGELES — There still was no resolution Friday to the Jazz/KJZZ-TV vs. DirecTV flap, but the satellite provider did ratchet up the heat a bit in its ongoing feud with the team-affiliated station.

KJZZ ended its retransmission agreement with DirecTV at midnight Wednesday.

That means none of the station's programming — which over the next few months features 16 upcoming Jazz games, beginning with next Wednesday night's against New Orleans — is currently available to DirecTV customers.

Dish Network and Comcast Cable subscribers continue to carry the station and its NBA games, though.

On Friday, Los Angeles-based DirecTV public relations director Robert Mercer issued the following "revised statement" on the matter:

"DirecTV continues to be interested in reaching an agreement with KJZZ, but to date, KJZZ's economic demands have been outrageous.

"Historically, the channel has made its signal available to DirecTV at no charge and is also free over the air. Now KJZZ is requesting a significant fee for its programming and in this extremely difficult economic climate, these demands represent a potential burden on our customers."

The suggestion is that DirecTV might have to raise its current consumer prices if it had to pay KJZZ.

"Though we did not want to take the station down," Mercer's statement continued, "DirecTV was notified by KJZZ that it would have to stop broadcasting its signal imminently if we did not give in to their demands. We remain willing to carry the channel while both parties negotiate in good faith."

DirecTV's initial response to KJZZ's decision was a statement that, in part, called the station's demands "unreasonable."

KJZZ has never previously charged DirecTV for retransmission rights but now is seeking a deal similar to one it currently has with DISH, a competing satellite provider.

DirecTV doesn't want to pay because it doesn't typically buy programming from local over-the-air stations that do not have national network affiliation, which is the case with KJZZ.

"It's irrelevant whether or not we're network-affiliated," KJZZ general manager Chris Baum said Friday. "It's about the audience, and programming we provide."

Baum — who would not disclose details of just how much the station is seeking from DirecTV — said "millions" of dollars are spent throughout the season to air Jazz games, a majority of which are shown on FSN-Utah.

"We've been in negotiations with these guys in good faith since the end of last season," the station's GM said, "and have been operating since March by extending the old agreement under the old terms month-by-month since then to try to resolve the issue."

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