DirecTV Faces Suit Over Premium Programming

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative is suing DirecTV Inc., a unit of El Segundo-based Hughes Electronics Inc., to enforce its right to sell HBO, Showtime and other premium programming that DirecTV acquired when it bought U.S. Satellite Broadcasting Co.

NRTC, the largest satellite-television provider to rural U.S. homes, filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles after DirecTV began marketing the premium programs to its customers. DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite-TV broadcaster, with 7 million customers, said its deal with NRTC doesn’t require it to sell those premium services to the cooperative.

NRTC said DirecTV’s action is undercutting its ability to serve customers and hurting companies to which it awarded franchises allowing the retransmission of DirecTV programming.

“Even though we had hoped not to take this action, we had no choice,” NRTC Chairman F. Thomas Rowland said. “We know that our DirecTV members are supportive of NRTC’s position. We have all worked too hard to build local businesses to simply let DirecTV ignore our right to serve rural America.”

DirecTV denies the claims.

“We want to make it clear that DirecTV is committed to providing uninterrupted DirecTV service to our customers residing in NRTC territories,” DirecTV spokesman Bob Marsocci said. “This is fundamentally a contract dispute between the NRTC and DirecTV and it should not raise concerns for NRTC or DirecTV subscribers.”