Fox’s new US sports channel yet to seal carriage deals

US network Fox has yet to agree carriage deals for its new national sports channel Fox Sports 1 with three of the country’s four biggest pay-television providers, according to the Sports Business Journal website.

DirecTV, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable, which together account for more than 46 million subscribers, are still negotiating to carry FS1 on August 17, which is when Fox will transform its motorsports channel, Speed, into the new multi-sport channel.

Talks between Fox and the three providers are said to be “amicable for the most part” but are being held up by discussions over rate fees for the new channel.

Distributors currently pay around 23 cents (€0.18) per subscriber per month for Speed.

The Journal said FS1 is being initially offered at 80 cents per subscriber per month, with increases that would raise the fee to the $1.50 range over the life of a multi-year carriage deal.